Strength For Today

Thomas Chisholm's (pictured) powerful hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness never ceases to move me. What a mighty God we serve! He truly is faithful! He gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Isn't that what we need? Praise Him today for His love!

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.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

The Valley of Vision

This prayer is taken from The Valley of Vision, an excellent collection of Puritan prayers:

"Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley."

Tears

Oops! I almost did it again. One of my typos almost got widespread distribution but I caught it just in time.

I was referring to the past 35 years of sports ministry but I accidentally typed "tears" instead of years. 35 tears of ministry? Actually there have been many more than 35 over the years.

Ministry and life, in general, are not without their share of heartaches, sorrows, tears. They are part of the equation.

I'm reminded, though, of one of my favorite Bible verses . . . a promise that I have appropriated and I have seen God confirm the truth of His Word.

The Psalmist writes, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:5,6)

As we share God's "good news" with love, compassion and tears, we can expect a glorious harvest in His time. Don't shy away from tears. As the songwriter penned, "Tears are a language, God understands."

P. S. I guess the classic typo from my pen was when I stated that "many livers have been changed through the Epistle, letter-writing ministry."

The Centrality of the Cross - A to Z

A – His AGONY & ANGUISH provided ATONEMENT

B – His BLOOD, His BRUISING and His BROKENNESS provided BLESSING

and eternal BENEFITS

C – His CRUCIFIXION brought CLEANSING and a CLEAR CONSCIENCE

D – His DEATH gave us DELIVERANCE

E – His EXCRUCIATING death gave us ETERNAL life

F – Through the FOOLISHNESS of the cross we received FORGIVENESS &

FAVOUR with the FATHER.

G – His GRIEF brought us GLORY

Our GUILT was replaced by His GRACE

H – His HANDS gave us HOPE and HEAVEN

I – His INFINITE loss became our INDESCRIBABLE gain

J – Instead of being JUDGED we were JUSTIFIED

K – He was KILLED but I became a child of the KING

L – His LOVE gave us LIFE

M – His MARRING brought us MERCY (Mercy there was great and grace was

free)

N – His NAILS brought us NIGH and made us NEAR to God

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)

“Near, so very near to God, Nearer I cannot be;

For in the Person of His Son, I am as near as He!”

O – His ORDEAL gave me OVERCOMING power

P – His PAIN provided PROPITIATION, PARDON & PEACE

Q – His QUEST to do His Father’s will led to my QUICKENING (new life)

R – His REJECTION led to REDEMPTION, RECONCILIATION, REST &

RIGHTEOUSNESS

S – His SUFFERING, SHAME & SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE provided

SALVATION & SECURITY

T – His THORNS lead to TRIUMPH

U – His UNDYING commitment to His Father brought us into UNION with the

Godhead

V – His seeming VANQUISHING defeat turned into VICTORY

W – His WOUNDS led to our WORSHIP. Instead of God’s WRATH we

became WORTHY in and through Him.

X –

Y –

Z –