Age is a funny thing. When you're young, you can't imagine being old. When you're old, you can't believe you can't do the old things anymore. Being unable to do the many things you used to take for granted when they were part of your normal, automatic life, is a stiff pill to take with all the other pills we're now supposed to take. Seventy-two has found me. I did not know where to hide. Honestly, I never thought we'd meet.

     Simple things elude me now. My short time memory is a joke. I think one thing and say another. I think of Dutch Brothers coffee but call it Sherwin Williams. To remember that evil Jewish King Manasseh I have to create word games like "man ass". It was funny in the beginning, but now it is troubling and humbling.

     Memorizing scripture is all but hopeless. How often do old people go to the restroom? Frequently, at least this one does. I have scriptures on the wall that I read more than daily, but do I remember them? No. Oh, I know Psalm 119 and Jeremiah 17 are on the bathroom wall. I know Jeremiah 17 is about the tree planted by the stream of living water and Psalm 119 is about the Word of God, my Lord and my Savior, but can I recite them? No.

     If I want to remember something, I tell my bride of 37 years. How often have I asked her, "How do you know that?" She tells me I told her.

     Quite frequently friends will email me jokes about the elderly. Unfortunately, they are often true, and so easy to relate too.

     Growing old is not a joke. After driving down a sidewalk Lily and I agreed I should not drive at night anymore. I used to make fun of my friend Arch, because he drove so slow, now, I can tell my driving frustrates Lily. Navigation … why even go there. Who could imagine I used to race cars at Irwindale Raceway, Riverside Raceway and Fontana! I doubt they even exist anymore, that young guy has certainly gone the way of the flesh. Speaking of flesh, what's with the stooped shoulders anyway?

     I remember bench pressing reps of 450 pounds at a resort in Lake Pend Oreille in front of my three little boys. I remember their oohs and ahhs, but now I struggle to help Lily move furniture, get in bed, get up off the couch, get out of the car … and getting up from the floor is a monumental chore.

     It is strange the things I do remember and the things I don't. I remember many of my sins and many of the stupid wicked things I did. Why don't I forget these? I remember many of the people I hurt; an unkind or boastful word, doing things for selfish reasons, putting me first, my way, my desires, my, my, my, etc.

     I don't remember when God became more important than me, when Lily became more important than me, when my sons became more important than me, when my family became more important than me, but thank the Lord that somewhere in my distant past God began to rearrange my priorities; God first, my spouse second, my family third and then whatever; career, hobby, etc.

     I remember when our local Christian University sent a Psychology Ph.D. candidate to me for counseling. He sat across from me at Starbucks with perfect posture, stiff and upright. His eyes bored into mine and he asked why he had to see me for counseling. He told me he already had one Ph.D. and he would shortly have a second one in Psychology. He told me he had other counselors and mentors and as he understood it, I only had a master's degree. He felt he should be counseling me.

     I remember being thoroughly intimidated. I did not know what to say. Then I heard myself tell him the following. I said, you see this alley between Starbucks and Famous Dave's? Imagine it is littered with piles of cow manure. I have probably stepped into most of them. In my mind the smell of manure is probably still with me. Now, young man, you have to cross that street. Would you like me to share with you where those piles of manure are or do you want to cross the street on your own? He softened, smiled and we began our first of ten meetings.

     Our local seminary and university used me for counseling for just under ten years. It was a very good time for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking back I do not remember the faces or ninety-five percent of the conversations, but I remember the manure conversation.

     I like to make family videos. This has become a real blessing for me. They help me remember times and places and events that otherwise would slip away.

     Lily remembers things when she was a little girl; a very little girl. I don't even remember high school, junior college, college and now I remember very little of seminary, or last year's Christmas, so videos have become very important.

     I wonder about the few things I do remember. Why do I remember these things? I remember looking down on Ryan when he was in the hospital and we thought we were going to lose him. I remember I could not stop crying. I remember Tom's nightmares of the rock that was going to fall on him and how I prayed God would reassure him. I remember when I took Chris for a long drive so Lily could prepare things for his surprise party. I remember when Spence broke his arm and the doctor could not do anything unless I held Spence in my lap. Then he was OK. I remember my Mom dying, my Dad dying, Lily's Dad dying, her Mom dying. I remember the first time I saw Lily. It was like coming out of a dark winter to springtime. Everything felt clean and good. I remember Betty Weems, Bible studies in our home, Tom Moser, Bob and Diane Gifford, Randy and Patty Stephens … I remember crying uncontrollably when we had to put Yukon down, and yet, so many things Lily talks about are lost to me.

     I remember some of the miracles God has performed in our family; the boys praying for a cat, Lily falling down the stairs and Tom and his brothers praying for her (as Lily told me later that day), God saving Ryan, God sending Petey to comfort Lily after her Dad passed, many of Lily's dreams that came true, God speaking to me through her and God speaking to me. God has always been faithful to me despite my being faithful to God infrequently.

     Since 2005, a summer I can't forget, I have prayed that God would provide us with a home of our own, again. I still want us to grow old in a home that God provides. At seventy-two I continue to pray for the same, but I understand that home may be in heaven. If that is God's will we are fine with it.

     I always, even when I was young, pictured myself sitting in a large wooden rocker rocking on the front porch and reflecting on the people and events in my life. I think that started when I watched my grandfather sit in a swing on their front porch. He'd swing back and forth slowly, not saying anything as he stared into space. Now, even if God provided that home and rocker would I be able to remember the things I want to remember? Maybe not, except for the videos.

     December 29, 2023. Another year of going through my website and updating it every day. In a few days I will be 75. We are just finishing a month in our new home, another rental, but now we are in Wisconsin and we have God loving landlords. 2023 was a very difficult and expensive year. A good chunk of the little money I had saved for Lily was spent on dishonest movers and family. However, we have confessed that God is our portion for many, many years now and we still know that to be true. There is nothing we gave away or lost that God can't replace ... if it be His will, so we are ready to start over again.

     Richard S. Adams | Lover of Christ, husband of Lily, father of four, grandfather of thirteen, Masters in Divinity and Certificate in Spiritual Direction. On staff at George Fox Evangelical Seminary 1/2009 to 7/2018.

• Jan 23     Potholes (2021)
• Jan 24     The Hornet
• Jan 26     Dealing With Disappointment
• Jan 27     Lost (2014)
• Jan 28     Life Support, A Non-Stop Flight
• Feb 5     Prosperity and the Camp Fire
• Feb 7     Job 6:14-23
• Feb 10     Spontaneous Generation
• Feb 14     Hindsight
• Feb 18     The Cure For Despair
• Feb 22     RE: Job's Friends
• Feb 23     Job 23:14
• Feb 25     No Time To Text
• Feb 26     The Labyrinth
• Feb 27     Find A Servant Of God And Ask This Question
• Mar 5     Polemics and Caricature
• Mar 6     Ecclesiastes 3:14 | Grace
• Mar 17     A Walk In The Rain
• Mar 25     The Corona Virus
• Apr 20     Death and My Master's Voice
• Apr 26     The Unexpected Blessing Returns
• May 1     RE: The Anointing at Bethany
• May 10     Ruth | Relationships
• May 25     Jesus and the Passover
• May 25     The Third Cup
• June 2     Extension Cords
• June 18     Lincoln City 6/2/18
• July 14     Tom - Gen andRevelation
• July 15     Knowledge and World Peace
• July 16     The Church as Lobbyist
• Aug 3     Have You Noticed
• Sept 1     Branches Ran Over The Wall
• Sept 2     1 Cor 9:1-2
• Sept 2     Many Young Folks Get This
• Sept 13     Reading God's Word
• Nov 27     The Way The World Is
• Nov 30     The Renewal Of Israel
• Dec 09     December 22
• Dec 11     Open Door
• Dec 20     Replacement Theology
• Dec 21     They cast Pur?
• Dec 31     IMHO

     We are looking forward to this evening as Athey Creek is having their New Year's Prophecy Update. We are so grateful to the Lord for guiding us to Athey Creek, even though my Seminary stopped asking me to do counseling ( which I loved ) once they discovered Lily and I were going to Athey Creek. God has used the teaching ministry here to bless us beyond words.

     The entire Bible is taught here. It takes about fourteen years for Pastor Brett to go through the entire Bible. He has been doing it here since 1996. Starting with a few people meeting to study the Bible it has grown into a church in the thousands. Apparently, despite Portland's reputation as a God hating city, (#1 in sex trafficking, strip clubs, etc. etc.) there are people here who want to know what the Bible says, ... all of it. Pastor Brett is fearless in teaching what the Bible says.

     Lily and I are greatly encouraged as we listen or watch Pastor Brett every day since all of his messages are available on the Church website.

     ‘Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.’

(Php 3:13) 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ESV

     Be honest: how many of last year’s resolutions did you keep? They say, ‘Procrastination is the thief of time.’ We keep promising ourselves we’ll do better. But ‘resolutions’ only happen when you’re ‘resolute’. That means having a mind that’s made up. So here are four resolutions you need to make up your mind to keep this year: 1) Take time for what really matters. Get up earlier in order to read your Bible and pray before entering the day. Make more time for your family. Start exercising and eating right. Take better care of your body; it’s God’s temple (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). 2) Tackle one thing at a time. Taking on too many things at once dilutes your focus and makes it harder to stick with things. When you start too much, you finish too little. So start where you are and build on your successes by mastering and maintaining one thing at a time. 3) Start small. Don’t try to swallow the whole enchilada in one bite; baby steps are the name of the game. Talk in terms of what you will do instead of what you won’t. For example, instead of saying, ‘I’m not going to be so critical,’ try saying, ‘Today I’m going to look for something good in everyone I meet’ (see Philippians 4:8). 4) Record your progress or lack of it. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. By facing the truth you’ll see how far you’ve come, and what you still need to work on. The Bible says, ‘Throw yourself into your tasks so…everyone will see your progress’ (1 Timothy 4:15 NLT).

(1 Co 6:19) 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ESV

(Php 4:8) 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ESV

(1 Ti 4:15) 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. ESV

Luke 24:36-53
Ps 140-150

UCB The Word For Today

     The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, who had been pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He led a nonviolent protest by boycotting the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama. On December 31, 1955, Rev. King stated: “If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, ‘There lived a great people - a black people - who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.’

American Minute

Have we taken Christ?
Faith is the bond of the union.
Christ is joined to us by his Spirit,
and we are joined to him by faith.
Faith ties the marriage knot.
--- Thomas Watson
Discourses On Important And Interesting Subjects: Being The Select Works Of Thomas Watson, Volume 1

What is it all going to amount to?
It should work out into rest in God
which means oneness with God,
a oneness which will make us
not only blameless in His sight
… but a deep joy to Him.
… Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest

The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell.
--- John Wesley – his last words
Graham 2in1 (Angels/Peace With God)

The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone.
--- Henrik Ibsen
A Toolbox for Humanity: More than 9000 Years of Thought

                Yesterday

     The God of Israel will be your rereward. --- Isaiah 52:12.

     Security from Yesterday. “God requireth that which is past.” At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise from remembering the yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace is apt to be checked by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in order to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual culture for the future. God reminds us of the past lest we get into a shallow security in the present.

     Security for To-morrow. “For the Lord will go before you.” This is a gracious revelation, that God will garrison where we have failed to. He will watch lest things trip us up again into like failure, as they assuredly would do if He were not our rereward. God’s hand reaches back to the past and makes a clearing-house for conscience.

     Security for To-day. “For ye shall not go out with haste.” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, unremembering delight, nor with the flight of impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ.

     Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.

My Utmost for His Highest

                Beacons

Whose address was the corridors
  of Europe, waiting for the summons
  to be interrogated on their lack of guilt.

  Their flesh was dough for the hot
  ovens. Some of them rose
  to the occasion. The nerves of some

  were instruments on which the guards fingered
  obscene music. Were there prayers
  said? Did a god hear? Time heard

  them, anticipating their requital.
  Their wrong is an echo defying
  acoustical law, increasing not fading.

  Evil's crumbling anonymity
  is at an end now. We recognize
  it by the eternal phosphorous

  of their bones, and make our way on
  by that same light to the birth
  of an innocence that is curled up in the will.

The Poems of R.S. Thomas

     Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
--- 2 Peter 3:18.

     By grace we must understand the principle of new life, implanted in regeneration.  Archibald Alexander, “The Nature and Means of Growth in Grace,” in National Preacher 3, no. 8 (January 1829), downloaded from the Web site Gems in the Attic, www.iserv.net/~bettysul/attic.htm.  It is as if the apostle had said, Increase in holiness or advance in piety.

     But grace is not a plant. It is of heavenly origin. By nature we are all “objects of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), conceived in sin, and totally destitute of holiness. None, therefore, but the truly regenerated soul is capable of growth in grace. We have, it is true, a rational nature and a moral constitution and are accountable, free agents, but in relation to spiritual exercises, we are dead: “dead in… transgressions and sins” (v. 1).

     A seed that possesses life, although it has lain dormant for a thousand years, yet when placed in a congenial soil and subjected to heat, air, and moisture, will readily sprout and grow until it arrives at maturity. But if the vital principle is lost, it will never give any indications of life, and all human skill and power can never cause it to vegetate. Yet, this seed may appear to have no defect in its internal structure. It may possess the perfect organization of seeds of the same species, but its life has fled, and no power on earth can restore it.

     Analogous to this is the condition of the human soul. Possessed of all the faculties with which it was created, it has lost the image of God. The principle of spiritual life with which it was animated has become extinct. And as the communication of life is the prerogative of God, so is the regeneration of the soul, and as this work requires the exertion of the same power that first caused light to shine out of darkness, it is denominated “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), and, as there is in it some analogy to raising a dead body from the grave, it is called a resurrection (see Eph. 2:6). But as this divine power is exerted without any consideration of merit in the creature, it is called grace.

     Although grace does not exist in anyone by nature, yet it may be received at any period of our existence in this world, from infancy to old age, and we read of some who were sanctified from the womb. But the number of such is very small. Piety is seldom observed to exist with the first dawning of reason and moral feeling. Most persons, therefore, who become the subjects of grace, can remember the time when they were alienated from God and have some knowledge of the change that took place in their views and affections.
--- Archibald Alexander

Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     The darkest times are ripest for revival. John Foxe observed: “What time there seemed to be no spark of pure doctrine remaining, Wycliffe, by God’s providence, sprang up, through whom the Lord would waken the world.” John Wycliffe was a brilliant professor at Oxford whose logic and popularity made him England’s leading theologian. But to the horror of the church—and long before Luther—Wycliffe denounced the arrogance, power, and wealth of the Catholic clergy, rejecting the infallibility of pope and council. Taking the Bible as the only source of truth, he proclaimed the Gospel of justification by grace through faith. Wycliffe wasn’t the first to criticize the papacy, but he was among the first to attack the doctrines that undergirded papal theology. For that reason, he’s called “the Morning Star of the Reformation.”

     Church authorities counterattacked: It hath been intimated that one John Wycliffe, professor of divinity, hath gone to such a pitch of detestable folly, that he feareth not to teach and preach, or rather to vomit out of the filthy dungeon of his breast, certain erroneous and false propositions and conclusions. … But Wycliffe enjoyed support from the people. When the archbishop of London prohibited his preaching, Wycliffe spent his time preparing the first English translation of the Bible.

     The strain of his public battles aged Wycliffe, and in his sixtieth year, on the last Sunday of 1384, presiding over the Lord’s Supper, he was struck with paralysis and fell to the ground. His friends carried him to bed where he died on December 31, 1384. Forty-one years later, still hated by his enemies, his bones were exhumed, burned, and thrown into the river. As an ancient biographer wrote, “They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighboring brook running hard by. Thus the brook conveyed his ashes into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas and they into the main ocean. And so the ashes of Wycliffe are symbolic of his doctrine, which is now spread throughout the world.”

     God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering at God. … Those people succeed in everything they do.
--- Psalm 1:1,3.

On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

          When tomorrow starts without me

When tomorrow starts without me
And I'm not there to see;
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;
I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today;
While thinking of the many things
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me
As much as I love you;
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too.
But when tomorrow starts without me
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name
And took me by the hand.

She said my place was ready
In heaven far above;
And that I'd have to leave behind,
All those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye;
For all my life, I'd always thought
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
So much yet to do;
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad;
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday
Just even for awhile,
I'd say goodbye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized
That this could never be;
For emptiness and memories
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things
I might miss come tomorrow;
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through heaven's gates
I felt so much at home;
When God looked down and smiled at me
From His great golden throne.

He said, "This is eternity
And all I've promised you;
Today your life on earth is past,
But here it all starts anew."
"I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last;
And since each day's the same day,
There's no longing for the past."
"But you have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true;
Though at times you did do things,
You knew you shouldn't do."
"But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free;
So won't you take my hand
And share my life with me?"

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here in your heart.

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

          Morning - December 31

     “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." John 7:37.

     Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast he pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year he pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our provocations, rebellions, and resistance of his Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders that we are still in the land of mercy!

     Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which implies not only the loudness of his voice, but the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. “We pray you,” says the Apostle, “as though God did beseech you by us.” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo his children to his bosom! Surely at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will come.

     Provision is made most plenteously; all is provided that man can need to quench his soul’s thirst. To his conscience the atonement brings peace; to his understanding the Gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus can remove it. Though the soul were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it.

     Proclamation is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other distinction is made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of avarice, ambition, pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst may be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a mark of inordinate sin longing to be gratified with deeper draughts of lust; but it is not goodness in the creature which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus sends it freely, and without respect of persons.

     Personality is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Saviour, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year’s last day!

     No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as he cries to each of us,

     “IF ANY MAN THIRST,
     LET HIM
     COME UNTO ME
     AND DRINK.


          Evening - December 31

     “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” --- Jeremiah 8:20.

     Not saved! Dear reader, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment to come, bidden to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved! You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and yet you neglect it, and therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall judge the quick and dead. The Holy Spirit has given more or less of blessing upon the word which has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone—your summer and your harvest have past—and yet you are not saved. Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year will soon be here: youth has gone, manhood is going, and yet you are not saved. Let me ask you—will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most propitious seasons have left you unsaved; will other occasions alter your condition? Means have failed with you—the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection—what more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have alike failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not more than likely that you will abide as you are till death for ever bars the door of hope? Do you recoil from the supposition? Yet it is a most reasonable one: he who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy to his end. The convenient time never has come, why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it never will arrive, and that Felix like, you will find no convenient season till you are in hell. O bethink you of what that hell is, and of the dread probability that you will soon be cast into it!

     Reader, suppose you should die unsaved, your doom no words can picture. Write out your dread estate in tears and blood, talk of it with groans and gnashing of teeth: you will be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. A brother’s voice would fain startle you into earnestness. O be wise, be wise in time, and ere another year begins, believe in Jesus, who is able to save to the uttermost. Consecrate these last hours to lonely thought, and if deep repentance be bred in you, it will be well; and if it lead to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of all. O see to it that this year pass not away, and you an unforgiven spirit. Let not the new year’s midnight peals sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, NOW, NOW believe, and live.

     “ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE;
     LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE,
     NEITHER STAY THOU IN ALL THE PLAIN;
     ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN,
     LEST THOU BE CONSUMED.”

Morning and Evening

          THE LORD IS KING!

     Freely adapted from Josiah Condor, 1789–1855

     For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:3)

     As we reflect on the joys, failures, and blessings of the past year, we can rejoice in the truth that we are personally related to the Lord Jehovah, who is king of heaven and earth and will reign forever. Some day we shall see Him and begin to enjoy His eternal presence.

     This vibrant hymn stirs us to praise and gratefulness for all of God’s leading in the past year. We will never “murmur at His wise decrees” if we remember His promises and reflect on how good and great He is. We are also reminded by this triumphant text that we must submit ourselves in humility to God’s will in our lives, trusting “His tender care” for us. Then we are to sing and shout His praise throughout each day! What a victorious life this suggests for us as believers as we approach another new year.

     The text of this fine hymn is an adaptation of one written earlier by Josiah Condor, a respected non-conformist lay preacher in the Congregational church of England. The music for this text was arranged from a tune found in The Sacred Harp, a collection of early American sacred music.

     The Lord is King! Let all His worth declare—great is He, great is He! Bow to His will and trust His tender care—great is He, great is He! Nor murmur at His wise decrees, nor doubt His steadfast promises; in humble faith fall on thy knees—great is He!
     The Lord is King! And bow to Him ye must—God is great, God is good! The judge of all to all is ever just—God is great, God is good! Holy and true are all His ways: Let ev’ry creature shout His praise; the Lord of Hosts, Ancient of Days—God is great, God is good!
     The Lord is King! Throughout His vast domain He is all, all in all! The Lord Jehovah evermore shall reign—He is all, all in all! Through earth and heav’n one song shall ring, from grateful hearts this anthem spring: Arise, ye saints, salute thy King—all thy days, sing His praise!

     For Today: Psalm 10:16; 145:11–13; Luke 1:33; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 11:15

Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions

     Use 3. For exhortation.

     1. Meditate often on the patience of God. The devil labors for nothing more than to deface in us the consideration and memory of this perfection. He is an envious creature; and since it hath reached out itself to us and not to him, he envies God the glory of it, and man the advantage of it: but God loves to have the volumes of it studied, and daily turned over by us. We cannot without an inexcusable wilfulness miss the thoughts of it, since it is visible in every bit of bread, and breath of air in ourselves, and all about us.

     (1.) The frequent consideration of his patience would render God highly amiable to us. It is a more endearing argument than his mere goodness; his goodness to us as creatures, endowing us with such excellent faculties, furnishing us with such a commodious world, and bestowing upon us so many attendants for our pleasure and service, and giving us a lordship over his other works, deserves our affection but his patience to us as sinners, after we have merited the greatest wrath, shows him to be of a sweeter disposition than creating goodness to unoffending creatures; and, consequently, speaks a greater love in him, and bespeaks a greater affection from us. His creating goodness discovered the majesty of his Being, and the greatness of his mind, but this the sweetness and tenderness of his nature. In this patience he exceeds the mildness of all creatures to us; and therefore should be enthroned in our affections above all other creatures. The consideration of this would make us affect him for his nature as well as for his benefits.

     (2.) The consideration of his patience would make us frequent and serious in the exercise of repentance. In its nature it leads to it, and the consideration of it would engage us to it, and melt us in the exercise of it. Could we deeply think of it without being touched with a sense of the kindness of our forbearing Creditor and Governor? Could we gaze upon it, nay, could we glance upon it, without relenting at our offending one of so mild a nature, without being sensibly affected, that he hath preserved us so long from being loaded with those chains of darkness, under which the devils groan? This forbearance hath good reason to make sin and sinners ashamed. That you are in being, is not for want of advantages enough in his hand against you; many a forfeiture you have made, and many an engagement you have broke; he hath scarce met with any other dealing from us, than what had treachery in it. Whatsoever our sincerity is, we have no reason to boast of it, when we consider what mixtures there are in it, and what swarms of base motions taint it. Hath he not lain pressed and groaning under our sins, as a “cart is pressed with sheaves” (Amos 2:13), when one shake of himself, as Sampson, might have rid him of the burden, and dismissed us in his fury into hell? If we should often ask our consciences why have we done thus and thus against so mild a God, would not the reflection on it put us to the blush? If men would consider, that such a time they provoked God to his face, and yet not have felt his sword; such a time they blasphemed him, and made a reproach of his name, and his thunder did not stop their motion; such a time they fell into an abominable brutishness, yet he kept the punishment of devils, the unclean spirits, from reaching them; such a time he bore an open affront from them, when they scoffed at his word, and he did not send a destruction, and laugh at it: would not such a meditation work some strange kind of relentings in men? What if we should consider, that we cannot do a sinful act without the support of his concurring Providence? We cannot see, hear, move, without his concourse. All creatures we use for our necessity or pleasure, are supported by him in the very act of assisting to pleasure us; and when we abuse those creatures against him, which he supports for our use, how great is his patience to bear with us, that he doth not annihilate those creatures, or at least embitter their use! What issue could reasonably be expected from this consideration, but, “O wretched man that I am, to serve myself of God’s power to affront him, and of his long-suffering to abuse him?” O infinite patience to employ that power to preserve me, that might have been used to punish me! He is my Creator, I could not have a being without him, and yet I offend him! He is my Preserver, I cannot maintain my being without him, and yet I affront him! Is this a worthy requital of God (Deut. 32:6), “Do you thus requite the Lord?” would be the heart-breaking reflection. How would it give men a fuller prospect of the depravation of their nature than anything else; that their corruption should be so deep and strong, that so much patience could not overcome it! It would certainly make a man ashamed of his nature as well as his actions.

     (3.) The consideration of his patience would make us resent more the injuries done by others to God. A patient sufferer, though a deserving sufferer, attracts the pity of men, that have a value for any virtue, though clouded with a heap of vice. How much more should we have a concern of God, who suffers so many abuses from others! and be grieved, that so admirable a patience should be slighted by men, who solely live by and under the daily influence of it! The impression of this would make us take God’s part, as it is usual with men to take the part of good dispositions that lie under oppression.

     (4.) It would make us patient under God’s hand. His slowness to anger and his forbearance is visible, in the very strokes we feel in this life. We have no reason to murmur against him, who gives us so little cause, and in the greatest afflictions gives us more occasion of thankfulness than of repining. Did not slowness to the extremest anger moderate every affliction, it had been a scorpion instead of a rod. We have reason to bless Him, who, from his long-suffering, sends temporal sufferings, where eternal are justly due. (Ezra 9:13), “Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities do deserve.” His indulgences towards us have been more than our corrections, and the length of his patience hath exceeded the sharpness of his rod. Upon the account of his long-suffering, our mutinies against God have as little to excuse them, as our sins against him have to deserve his forbearance. The consideration of this would show us more reason to repine at our own repinings, than at any of his smarter dealings; and the consideration of this would make us submissive under the judgments we expect. His undeserved patience hath been more than our merited judgments can possibly be thought to be. If we fear the removal of the gospel for a season, as we have reason to do, we should rather bless him, that by his waiting patience, he hath continued it so long, than murmur, that he threatens to take it away so late. He hath borne with us many a year, since the light of it was rekindled, when our ancestors had but six years’ of patience between the rise of Edward the Sixth, and the ascent of Queen Mary, to the crown.

     2. Exhortation is to admire and stand astonished at his patience, “and bless him for it.” If you should have defiled your neighbor’s bed, or sullied his reputation, or rifled his goods, would he have withheld his vengeance, unless he had been too weak to execute it? We have done worse to God than we can do to man, and yet he draws not that sword of wrath out of the scabbard of his patience, to sheath it in our hearts. It is not so much a wonder that any judgments are sent, as that there are no more, and sharper. That the world shall be fired at last, is not a thing so strange, as that fire doth not come down every day upon some part of it. Had the disciples, that saw such excellent patterns of mildness from their Master, and were so often urged to learn of him that was lowly and meek, the government of the world, it had been long since turned into ashes, since they were too forward to desire him to open his magazine of judgments, and kindle a fire to consume a Samaritan village, for a slight affront in comparison of what he received from others, and afterwards from themselves in their forsaking of him (Luke 9:52–54). We should admire and praise that here which shall be praised in heaven; though patience shall cease as to its exercise after the consummation of the world, it shall not cease from receiving the acknowledgments of what it did, when it traversed the stage of this earth. If the name of God be glorified, and acknowledged in heaven, no question but this will also; since long-suffering is one of his Divine titles, a letter in his name, as well as “merciful, and gracious, abundant in goodness and truth.” And there is good reason to think that the patience exercised towards some, before converting grace was ordered to seize upon them, will bear a great part in the anthems of heaven. The greater his long-suffering hath been to men, that lay covered with their own dung, a long time before they were freed by grace from their filth; the more admiringly and loudly they will cry up his mercy to them, after they have passed the gulf, and see a deserved hell at a distance from them, and many in that place of torment who never had the tastes of so much forbearance. If mercy will be praised there, that which began the alphabet of it, cannot be forgot. If Paul speak so highly of it in a damping world, and under the pull-backs of a “body of death,” as he doth (1 Tim. 1:16, 17: “For this cause I obtained mercy; that Christ might show forth all long-suffering. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.” No doubt, but he will have a higher note for it, when he is surrounded with a heavenly flame, and freed from all remains of dulness. Shall it be praised above, and have we no notes for it here below? Admire Christ, too, who sued out your reprieve upon the account of his merit. As mercy acts not upon any but in Christ, so neither had patience borne with any but in Christ. The pronouncing the arrest of judgment (Gen. 8:21) was when “God smelled a sweet savor from Noah’s sacrifice,” not from the beasts offered, but the antitypical sacrifice represented. That we may be raised to bless God for it, let us consider,

     (1.) The multitude of our provocations. Though some have blacker guilt than others, and deeper stains, yet let none wipe his mouth, but rather imagine himself to have but little reason to bless it. Are not all our offences as many as there have been minutes in our lives? All the moments of our continuance in the world have been moments of his patience and our ingratitude. Adam was punished for one sin, Moses excluded Canaan for a passionate unbelieving word. Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives for one sin against the Holy Ghost. One sin sullied the beauty of the world, defaced the works of God, and cracked heaven and earth in pieces, had not infinite satisfaction been proposed to the provoked Justice by the Redeemer; and not one sin committed, but is of the same venomous nature. How many of those contradictions against himself hath he borne with! Had we been only unprofitable to him, his forbearance of us had been miraculous; but how much doth it exceed a miracle, and lift itself above the meanness of a conjunction with such an apithet, since we have been provoking! Had there been no more than our impudent or careless rushings into his presence in worship; had they been only sins of omission, and sins of ignorance, it had been enough to have put a stand to any further operations of this perfection towards us. But add to those, sins of commission, sins against knowledge, sins against spiritual motions, sins against repeated resolutions, and pressing admonitions, the neglects of all the opportunities of repentance; put them all together, and we can as little recount them, as the sands on the sea-shore. But what, do I only speak of particular men? View the whole world, and if our own iniquities render it an amazing patience, what a mighty supply will be made to it in all the numerous and weighty provocations, under which he hath continued the world for so many revolutions of years and ages! Have not all those pressed into his presence with a loud cry, and demanded a sentence from justice? yet hath not the Judge been overcome by the importunity of our sins? Were the devils punished for one sin, a proud thought, and that not committed against the blood of Christ, as we have done numberless times; yet hath not God made us partakers in their punishment, though we have exceeded them in the quality of their sin. O admirable patience! that would bear with me under so many, while he would not bear with the sinning angels for one.

     (2.) Consider how mean things we are, who have provoked him. What is man but a vile thing, that a God, abounding with all riches, should take care of so abject a thing, much more to bear so many affronts from such a drop of matter, such a nothing creature! That he that hath anger at his command, as well as pity should endure such a detestable, deformed creature by sin, to fly in his face! “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8.) אנושׁ, miserable, incurable man, derived from a word, that signifies to be incurably sick. Man is “Adam,” earth from his earthly original, and “Enoch,” incurable from his corruption. Is it not worthy to be admired, that a God of infinite glory should wait on such Adams, worms of earth, and be, as it were, a servant, and attendant to such Enochs, sickly and peevish creatures?

     (3.) Consider who it is that is thus patient. He it is that, with one breath, could turn heaven and earth, and all the inhabitants of both, into nothing; that could, by one thunderbolt, have razed up the foundations of a cursed world. He that wants not instruments without to ruin us, that can arm our own consciences against us, and can drown us in our own phlegm; and, by taking out one pin from our bodies, cause the whole frame to fall asunder. Besides, it is a God that, while he suffers the sinner, hates the sin more than all the holy men upon earth, or angels in heaven, can do; so that his patience for a minute transcends the patience of all creatures, from the creation to the dissolution of the world: because it is the patience of a God, infinitely more sensible to the cursed quality of sin, and infinitely more detesting it.

     (4.) Consider how long he hath forborne his anger. A reprieve for a week or a month is accounted a great favor in civil states; the civil law enacts, “That if the emperor commanded a man to be condemned, the execution was to be deferred thirty days: because in that time the prince’s anger might be appeased.” But how great a favor is it to be reprieved thirty years for many offences, every one of which deserves death more at the hands of God than any offence can at the hands of man! Paul was, according to the common account, but about thirty years old at his conversion; and how much doth he elevate Divine long-suffering! Certainly there are many who have more reason, as having larger quantities of patience cut out to them, who have lived to see their own gray hairs in a rebellious posture against God, before grace brought them to a surrender. We were all condemned in the womb; our lives were forfeited the first moment of our breath, but patience hath stopped the arrest; the merciful Creditor deserves to have acknowledgment from us, who hath laid by his bond so many years without putting it in suit against us. Many of your companions in sin have perhaps been surprised long ago, and haled to an eternal prison; nothing is remaining of them but their dust, and the time is not yet come for your funeral. Let it be considered, that that God that would not wait upon the fallen angels one instant after their sin, nor give them a moments space of repentance, hath prolonged the life of many a sinner in the world to innumerable moments, to 420,000 minutes in the space of a year, to 8,400,000 minutes in the space of twenty years. The damned in hell would think it a great kindness to have but a year’s, month’s, nay, day’s respite, as a space to repent in.

     (5.) Consider also, how many have been taken away under shorter measures of patience: some have been struck into a hell of misery, while thou remainest upon an earth of forbearance. In a plague, the destroying angel hath hewed down others, and passed by us; the arrows have flew about our heads, passed over us, and stuck in the heart of a neighbor. How many rich men, how many of our friends and familiars, have been seized by death since the beginning of the year, when they least thought of it, and imagined it far from them! Have you not known some of your acquaintance snatched away in the height of a crime? Was not the same wrath due to you as well as to them! And had it not been as dreadful for you to be so surprised by Him as it was for them? Why should he take a less sturdy sinner out of thy company, and let thee remain still upon the earth? If God had dealt so with you, how had you been cut off, not only from the enjoyment of this life, but the hopes of a better! And if God had made such a providence beneficial for reclaiming you, how much reason have you to acknowledge him! He that hath had least patience, hath cause to admire; but those that have more, ought to exceed others in blessing him for it. If God had put an end to your natural life before you had made provision for eternal, how deplorable would your condition have been! Consider also, whoever have been sinners formerly of a deeper note; might not God have struck a man in the embraces of his harlots, and choked him in the moment of his excessive and intemperate healths, or on the sudden have spurted fire and brimstone into a blasphemer’s mouth? What if God had snatched you away, when you had been sleeping in some great iniquity, or sent you while burning in lust to the fire it merited? Might he not have cracked the string that linked your souls to your bodies, in the last sickness you had? And what then had become of you? What could have been expected to succeed your impenitent state in this world, but howlings in another? but he reprieved you upon your petitions, or the solicitations of your friends; and have you not broke your word with him? Have your hearts been steadfast; hath he not yet waited, expecting when you would put your vows and resolutions into execution? What need had he to cry out to any so loud and so long, O you fools, “how long will you love foolishness?” (Prov. 1:22), when he might have ceased his crying to you, and have by your death prevented your many neglects of him? Did he do all this that any of us might add new sins to our old; or rather, that we should bless him for his forbearance, comply with the end of it in reforming our lives, and having recourse to his mercy?

     3. Exhortion; therefore presume not upon his patience. The exercise of it is not eternal; you are at present under his patience; yet, while you are unconverted, you are also under his anger (Psalm 7:11), “God is angry with the wicked every day.” You know not how soon his anger may turn his patience aside, and step before it. It may be his sword is drawn out of his scabbard, his arrows may be settled in his bow; and perhaps there is but a little time before you may feel the edge of the one or the point of the other: and then there will be no more time for patience in God to us, or petition from us to him. If we repent here he will pardon us. If we defer repentance, and die without it, he will have no longer mercy to pardon, nor patience to bear. What is there in our power but the present? the future time we cannot command, the past time we cannot recall; squander not then the present away. The time will come when “time shall be no more,” and then long-suffering shall be no more. Will you neglect the time, wherein patience acts, and vainly hope for a time beyond the resolves of patience? Will you spend that in vain, which goodness hath allotted you for other purposes? What an estimate will you make of a little forbearance to respite death, when you are gasping under the stroke of its arrows? How much would you value some few days of those many years you now trifle away? Can any think God will be always at an expense with them in vain, that he will have such riches trampled under their feet, and so many editions of his patience be made waste paper? Do you know how few sands are yet to run in your glass? Are you sure that He that waits to-day, will wait as well to-morrow? How can you tell, but that God that is slow to anger to-day, may be swift to it the next? Jerusalem had but a day of peace, and the most careless sinner hath no more. When their day was done, they were destroyed by famine, pestilence, or sword, or led into a doleful captivity. Did God make our lives so uncertain, and the duration of his forbearance unknown to us, that we should live in a lazy neglect of his glory, and our own happiness? If you should have more patience in regard of your lives, do you know whether you shall have the effectual offers of grace? As your lives depend upon his will, so your conversion depends solely upon his grace. There have been many examples of those miserable wretches, that have been left to a reprobate sense, after they have a long time abused Divine forbearance. Though he waits, yet he “binds up sin.” (Hos. 13:12), “The sin of Ephraim is bound up,” as bonds are bound up by a creditor till a fit opportunity: when God comes to put the bond in suit, it will be too late to wish for that patience we have so scornfully despised. Consider therefore the end of patience. The patience of God considered in itself, without that which it tends to, affords very little comfort; it is but a step to pardoning mercy, and it may be without it, and often is. Many have been reprieved that were never forgiven; hell is full of those that had patience as well as we, but not one that accepted pardoning grace went within the gates of it. Patience leaves men, when their sins have ripened them for hell; but pardoning grace never leaves men till it hath conducted them to heaven. His patience speaks him placable, but doth not assure us that he is actually appeased. Men may hope that a long-suffering tends to a pardon, but cannot be assured of a pardon, but by something else above mere long-suffering. Rest not then upon bare patience, but consider the end of it; it is not that any should sin more freely, but repent more meltingly; it is not to spirit rebellion, but give a merciful stop to it. Why should any be so ambitious of their ruin, as to constrain God to ruin them against the inclinations of his sweet disposition?

     4. The fourth exhortation is, Let us imitate God’s patience in our own to others. He is unlike God that is hurried, with an unruly impetus, to punish others for wronging him. The consideration of Divine patience should make us square ourselves according to that pattern. God hath exercised a long-suffering from the fall of Adam to this minute on innumerable subjects, and shall we be transported with desire of revenge upon a single injury? If God were not “slow to wrath,” a sinful world had been long ago torn up from the foundation. And if revenge should be exercised by all men against their enemies, what man should have been alive, since there is not a man without an enemy? If every man were like Saul, breathing out threatenings, the world would not only be an aceldema, but a desert. How distant are they from the nature of God, who are in a flame upon every slight provocation from a sense of some feeble and imaginary honor, that must bloody their sword for a trifle, and write their revenge in wounds and death! When God hath his glory every day bespattered, yet he keeps his sword in his sheath; what a woe would it be to the world, if he drew it upon every affront! This is to be like brutes, dogs, or tigers, that snarl, bite, and devour, upon every slight occasion: but to be patient is to be divine, and to show ourselves acquainted with the disposition of God. “Be you therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48): i. e. Be you perfect and good; for he had been exhorting them to bless them that cursed them, and to do good to them that hated them, and that from the example God had set them, in causing his sun to rise upon the evil as well as the good. “Be you therefore perfect.” To conclude: as patience is God’s perfection, so it is the accomplishment of the soul: and as his “slowness to anger” argues the greatness of his power over himself, so an unwillingness to revenge is a sign of a power over ourselves which is more noble than to be a monarch over others.

The Existence and Attributes of God

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

Revelation 20
Jon Courson

click here
June 25, 1997

Revelation 20:1-3
Binding Satan
Jon Courson

click here
June 29, 1997

Revelation 21:1-5
What!?! No Beach?
Jon Courson

click here
July 13, 1997

Revelation 21
Jon Courson

click here
July 16, 1997

Revelation 22
Jon Courson

click here
July 23, 1997

Revelation 19-20
Jew-dicious Judgment
Jon Courson

click here
August 3, 2004

Revelation 20:1-10
Jon Courson

click here
August 10, 2004

Revelation 20:11-15
The Second Death
Jon Courson

click here
August 17, 2004

Revelation 21:1-8
A Brand New World
Jon Courson

click here
August 31, 2004

Revelation 21:9-21
A Bright New City
Jon Courson

click here
September 7, 2004

Revelation 21:21
Pearly Gates
Jon Courson

click here
September 14, 2004

Revelation 21:22-27
Less Is More
Jon Courson

click here
September 21, 2004

Revelation 22:1
The Pure River Of Life
Jon Courson

click here
September 28, 2004

Revelation 22
Grace Is The Final Word
Jon Courson

click here
October 5, 2004

Revelation 22:21
The Final Word
Jon Courson

click here
January 28, 2004

Revelation 20
Jon Courson

click here
July 6, 2011

Revelation 21:1-9
Jon Courson

click here
July 13, 2011

Revelation 21:10-27
Jon Courson

click here
July 20, 2011

Revelation 22:1-3
Jon Courson

click here
July 27, 2011

Revelation 22:3-7
Jon Courson

click here
August 3, 2011

Revelation 22:7-13
Jon Courson

click here
August 10, 2011

Revelation 22:14-21
Jon Courson

click here
August 17, 2011

Jon Courson | Jon Courson

Revelation 20
The Millennium:
The Great Theological Divide
Calvary Chapel NM


March 2, 2023

Revelation 20:1-6
Heaven on Earth
Calvary Chapel NM


April 25, 2016

Revelation 20:4-7; 11-15
What's Next...for Everyone!
Calvary Chapel NM


May 23, 2016

Revelation 21-22
Surprising Facts about Your Eternal Home
Calvary Chapel NM


June 6, 2016

Revelation 20
The End Is Near
Calvary Chapel NM


August 13, 2023

Skip Heitzig | Calvary Chapel NM

Revelation 20:1-6
Gary Hamrick

Revelation 20:7-15
Gary Hamrick

Revelation 21
Gary Hamrick

Revelation 21:9-22:2
Gary Hamrick

Revelation 22:2-21
Gary Hamrick

Gary Hamrick | Cornerstone Chapel

Revelation 20:11-15
The Great White Throne Judgment
Paul LeBoutillier


10-03-2013

Revelation 21:1-8
New Heaven and New Earth
Paul LeBoutillier


10-03-2013

Revelation 21:9-21
The New Jerusalem
Paul LeBoutillier


10-03-2013

Revelation 22:1-6
The River of Life
Paul LeBoutillier


10-03-2013

Revelation 22:8-21
Come Lord Jesus!
Paul LeBoutillier


10-03-2013

Paul LeBoutillier | Calvary Chapel Ontario, Oregon

Revelation 20:1-3
The Future Of Our Foe
s1-641


9-08-2013

Revelation 20
m1-663


9-11-2013

Revelation 21:1
Today's Treasure ... Tomorrow's Trash
s1-642


9-15-2013

Revelation 21
m1-664


9-18-2013

Revelation 22:7
Behold, I Come Quickly
s1-643


9-22-2013

Revelation 22
m1-655


9-25-2013

Brett Meador