Finding The Secret

More Than Conquerors
June 2003 Part II

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” —Revelation 3:15-20

“In God, we live every commonplace as well as the most exalted moment of our being. To trust in Him when no need is pressing, when things seem going right of themselves, may be harder than when things seem to be going wrong.”
—George MacDonald

There have been times in my life when my heart has been on fire for Christ, and every moment is a joy to live. There have also been times when burdens have been heavy to bear, and tears come easily. But there have also been times when my heart has seemed dead, and living day-by-day life has become monotonous and unexciting. It is these times I dislike the most; these times of heart-deadness that I go through are probably similar to the lukewarmness that the church of Laodicea struggled with. When troubles come, it is easy to fall on Christ, because there is nowhere else to turn, but when your heart is like a stone you tend to feel distant from Him.

I know what I need—I need the Holy Spirit to guide my steps every day. I need His fruit of joy, and even more, His fruit of love. I need to rejoice in the Lord always, opening my heart to see that every moment of life is worth living! I need to live each day with a new outlook on life, seeing the beauty (towards which we are so often completely blind) of all God has created!

What can I do? The answer has become clear to me these past few months—I shall do the only thing I can do. I shall live each moment at a time, calling upon the name of the Lord, taking each step as He guides me, and living with a heart open to the joy of life. It is not by my strength that I can live this way, but only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

You have knocked, Lord, and I will open up the door. Send your lightning down and set my heart ablaze! I need your guidance every day.

Smoke

Lord, I have laid my heart upon Thy altar
But cannot get the wood to burn;
It hardly flares ere it begins to falter
And to the dark return.

Old sap, or night-fallen dew, makes damp the fuel;
In vain my breath would flame provoke;
Yet see—at every poor attempt’s renewal
To Thee ascends the smoke!

’Tis all I have—smoke, failure, foiled endeavor
Coldness and doubt and palsied lack:
Such as I have I send thee!—perfect Giver,
Send Thou lightning back.

—George MacDonald

Revival In My Spirit
My daily prayer

Father, kindle, with Your Spirit,
A raging fire within me.
Take the coals from the altar, Lord.
Revive what used to be.

Let the fire from heaven fall.
Stir up what lies so deep.
Arise, oh, hungering and yearning.
Awake from spiritual sleep.

Create in me a spiritual hunger
That cannot be stilled.
Make me ever mindful and cease not
Until I have nothing more to fill.

Help me, blessed Savior,
To better understand Your word,
So as not to rely on
Only what I have heard.

Establish, within me, Lord,
An eagerness to be
Someone better than I have been,
More surrendered unto thee.

Teach me, lead me, and try me
In things I have a need to know—
That the thirst for a great revival lead me
Where the Living Waters flow.

© 2003 by Sandra Griffin
Used with permission.
http://www.our.homewithgod.com/sandra

Let The Water Come Down

Sometimes life is like a desert
When my soul is parched and dry;
When my spirit’s eyes are looking
For any clouds in the sky

I need your rain, oh my Father!
For spiritual life to grow;
Send a thunderstorm of your strength
Now I know I need it so!

Let the Spirit flow like a stream,
Flow through my soul like the Nile
Take my dead and barren heart,
And make it green and fertile

Maybe Satan built a dam
To keep You far from my soul;
Break it, Lord! In tiny pieces
Never again to be whole!

Let the water come down to me
Let my soul’s thirst be filled
Let the Holy Spirit’s love
Down into my life be spilled

—Benjamin Graber

Dost Thou Not Care?

I love and love not: Lord, it breaks my heart
To love and not to love.
Thou veiled within Thy glory, gone apart
Into Thy shrine, which is above,
Dost Thou not love me, Lord, or care
For this mine ill?—
I love thee here or there,
I will accept thy broken heart, lie still.

Lord, it was well with me in time gone by
That cometh not again,
When I was fresh and cheerful, who but I?
I fresh, I cheerful: worn with pain
Now, out of sight and out of heart;
O Lord, how long?—
I watch thee as thou art,
I will accept thy fainting heart, be strong.

“Lie still,” “be strong,” today; but, Lord, tomorrow,
What of tomorrow, Lord?
Shall there be rest from toil, be truce from sorrow,
Be living green upon the sward
Now but a barren grave to me,
Be joy for sorrow?—
Did I not die for thee?
Did I not live for thee? Leave Me tomorrow.

—Christina Rossetti

Too Often

Abba, Abba, save me—
Don’t let this anguish grave me—
I’m black and blue as I crawl to You,
Clawin’ for the grace You gave me—

Abba, Abba, bloody
Is this hard heart inside of me—
And I fail the fight to do what’s right—
Oh, how can You still love me?!?

Abba, Abba, don’t leave me
To wallow on my own—
Oh, again to taste that awesome grace—
Too often from Your throne—

Looking down, You see me
Down again on my knees—
Once more I pray in a weary way—
Too often You forgive me—

—Joanna Spencer
© 2003 Joanna J. Spencer. Used with permission.

Light Conquers Darkness

If you’re in a darkened room,
And a small candle is lit,
The darkness retreats away
From light the candle emits.

If two rooms are side-by-side,
One is dark, the other, bright,
And a door opens between,
The dark is conquered by light!

So when your life seems dark,
Always remember this law:
Light always conquers darkness!
Soon the darkness will withdraw,
And your heart will become bright,
As it is filled with the light.

—Benjamin Graber

In My Weakness

When you’re lost in a sea of indifference,
When you’re drowning but nobody cares,
When it seems all is lost (’though you’ve paid the high cost)
And you can’t pierce the ceiling with prayers,
When you’re standing for right (but alone in your fight),
When your heart is breaking in two ...
Dear friend, just recall the sparrows that fall.
He really does care for you.

Sometimes in losing, we win more
And sometimes the battle’s not o’er.
Sometimes, the struggle creates the strength
To raise us up where eagles soar.
When we have reached the High Places
And we gaze at the struggle below,
The tapestry woven will look from above
Like it never could from here below.

God does have a plan and a purpose
And things never happen by chance.
What you see through the lens, with study,
Is not just the same as a glance.
So, when troubles and trials beset you,
Hold on! And study with care!
You’ll find the trace of His finger
And you’ll know He is answering prayer!

It is not just the present and past He can see
And it’s not just the loss or the win.
But, He sees beyond and He sees results
And knows how the twig turns and bends.

I like to think that each twist and turn,
In this gnarled old bark of mine,
Drove my roots deeper still; seeking guidance until
They’re forever entwined in Thine!

© by Joan Clifton Costner
Used with permission.
http://underhiswings0.tripod.com

And He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
II Cor.12:9

Dejection

O Father, I am in the dark,
My soul is heavy-bowed:
I send my prayer up like a lark,
Up through my vapory shroud,
To find Thee,
And remind Thee
I am Thy child, and Thou my Father,
Thou round me death itself should gather.

Lay Thy loved hand upon my head,
Let Thy heart beat in mine;
One thought from Thee, when all seems dead,
Will make the darkness shine
About me
And throughout me!
And should again the dull night gather,
I’ll cry again, Thou art my Father.

—George MacDonald

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or
nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
—Romans 8:35, 37

If you have any comments or questions, or if you have a poem to share that you would like included in the next issue, please send an e-mail to bgraber@neo.rr.com

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