Women

O women of truth and righteousness
Walking in the gospel of peace
Fight for humility and gentleness
For God's beauty in you, which will not cease

Faithfulness as Sarah's daughters
Is not a struggle for the weak
His strength upholds when faith doth totter
Strength to be merciful and meek

Take up your swords and pursue His grace
Guarded in His loving care
Looking ever only to His face
Reflecting His beauty to which none compares



"In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear."

-1 Peter 3:1-6

O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of His grace

My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name

So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love
Jesus!

Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
'Tis music in the sinner's ears
'Tis life and health and peace

He breaks the power of canceled sin
He sets the prisoners free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me

So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love
There is one great love
Jesus


He speaks and listening to His voice
New life the dead receive
The mournful broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe

Glory to God and praise and love
Be ever, ever given
By saints below and saints above
The church in earth and heaven

So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love
Jesus

There are so few words
That never grow old
There are so few words
That never grow old
Jesus

So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love
There is one great love
There is one great love!

Jesus!

Joy!

"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy."

-2 Corinthians 1:24

"This is what Satan desperately wants to hide from the eyes of our hearts--a spiritual sight of Christ's glory in the gospel. Not just the facts, but the beauty of the facts."

-John Piper, When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the POWER of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Philippians 3:8-11

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1,2

At the same time...

"Our striving would be losing."
-Martin Luther

"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with much fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

Philippians 2:12,13

"...it is a good fight because it is not a struggle to carry a burden, but a struggle to let a burden be carried for us..."

-John Piper

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

John 15:5

"Apart from Christ I can do nothing--I cannot even rejoice."

-John Piper

"...I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and JOY in the faith..."

Philippians 1:25

"...[Paul] expresses the summary of his ministry on earth as working to advance their joy!"

-John Piper

Let us spur one another on to love and good deeds, not only fighting for our joy, but the fruit of joy in others. By the grace of God, we can rejoice together.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me."

-1 Corinthians 15:10

The fight (for joy) itself is a gift flowing from the grace of God, that the following gift of joy from God might serve to glorify Him, and not uphold our "good works."

"Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 13:20,21

And since He is sovereign, and joy is not a wage due to us, let us glorify God in our waiting for the spontaneous occurrence of joy at the sight of His face.

"I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD."

-Psalm 40:1-3

"He waited for the Lord. He could not make the Lord come. He could wait and hope and trust that He would come...If [blessings] delay, we trust the wisdom of our Father's timing, and we wait."

-John Piper

Grace is powerful, joy is rugged, and love is deep at the fountain of the Lord. Let us wait on Him.

Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy and hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me



I was just thinking about God's faithfulness a lot. Shocker, huh?

But anyway, I just am so amazed and awestruck by this truth. When we are faithless, He remains faithful. If I fail, He is faithful. If I don't look to Him, He remains faithful to me. In fact He says in Isaiah that He has inscribed the name of His people on His hands. So even if we say, "Surely the Lord has forgotten us; He has forsaken us," He will forever reply, "Can a mother forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, your name is inscribed on My hands, and your walls are continually before me."

He still watches our comings and goings. He still holds our hand. He still whispers sweetly to us. He still longs for every opportunity to show us grace. He still delights in us, and causes all things to work together for our good. What a merciful and compassionate God we serve!

For God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He is faithful to His people. He is faithful to His creation.

Fathers and Futures

Wow. Things have been pretty intense these past few weeks.

I've had some amazing time with God, some great friendships with students here in Tokyo, and a growing fondness for my team.

I am feeling incredibly uncertain about future stuff, though. I graduate in May, and I want to decide by October whether I will do Edge Corps, come back for midterm in Japan, or maybe do something else in ministry.

Any of these options would be a huge change, and I'll probably move away from home. That's really scary to me, and I will sorely and heartily miss my family and friends. I am also worried about finding the rich fellowship I have had in Navigators outside of college. I will miss it so much, and I feel like I need it. I do know, however, that wherever I go, God's grace is sufficient. That is easy to write, but do we really believe it?

God's favor is all I need. Just the favor--the approval and active help of my God.

This is really what I wanted to write:

I saw a father the other day. He was sitting outside of Starbucks with his wife and baby. The first time I looked at him, I was captivated by the look on his face. He was gazing fondly at his daughter with sort of a goofy love-drunk half smile. He delighted in her. He looked at her with the softest, most tender affection I have ever seen on any face. He watched her every move. He counted her ten fingers and her ten little toes. He gently brushed back her feathery hair. He straightened her dress. He moved her stroller closer.

When the mother went inside, he unbuckled her little seatbelt and drew his precious daughter to his lap. As she looked around, taking in the busy Tama Center, he waved at her and talked to her, just wanting his daughter look at him. When she did, his face lapsed into an ever-widening smile.

I thought, "My Father does this for me. He watches when I lay down and when I rise up. He counts the hairs on my head. He looks upon with tender love, longing for every opportunity to show His favor. He holds my hand. Even if a nursing mother may forget her child, or if this father does not stay, my Father in heaven will keep me continually before His eyes, and allow me to gaze upon the beauty of His love. I look and see my name inscribed upon His hands and my name written on His heart."

Wherever He leads me, this is all I need. This is much more than I can understand, anf he fills my cup with His love. I am ever-satisfied with His lovingkindness.