Poems and Ponderings

What Love Have I?

What Love have I to shed abroad?
What love grows in this worthless sod,
unless The Gardener add seed,
and pluck the wayward, fleshly weed,
sprinkle His pure righteousness
covering dry sinfulness?
What love grew I alone?

What love have I to shed abroad?
What love can I shine long and broad
from an extinguished flame,
doused by my own foolish rain?
Unless my heart’s desire
be lit with God’s immortal fire.
Fanned to blaze bright with glory,
telling His eternal story.
What love shine I alone?

Alone? Not I!
My Lord did die,
grafting His own Love scarred hands
Into my barren, fruitless lands.
A love that withers not, nor fails;
touched not by winds or driving hails
now His forever yield.

And the cold and deadly flame?
My Lord has wrought a happy change.
Warmer, wider does it seek
to cheer the faint and aid the weak,
brightens home and lightens labor.
I have no love but through my Savior.
His Love He shed for me.

~Madeleine Wynn~
3/22/2010

True and False Beauty

"Hearing a young lady highly praised for her beauty, Gotthold asked, 'What kind of beauty do you mean? Merely that of the body, or that also of the mind? I see well that you have been looking no further than the sign which nature displays outside the house, but have never asked for the host who dwells within. Beauty is an excellent gift of God, nor has the pen of the Holy Spirit forgotten to speak its praise; but it is virtuous and godly beauty alone which Scripture honors, expressly declaring, on the other hand, that a fair woman which is with out discretion is as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout (Proverbs 11: 22) Many a pretty girl is like the flower called the Imperial Crown, which is admired, no doubt, for it's showy appearance, but despised for it's unpleasant odor. Were her mind as free from pride, selfishness, luxury and levity, as her countenance from spots and wrinkles, and could she govern her inward inclinations as she does her external carriage, she would have none to match her. But who loves the caterpillar and such insects, however showy their appearance, and bright and variegated the colors that adorn them, seeing they injure and defile the trees and plants on which they settle? What the better is an apple for its rosy skin, if the maggot have penetrate and devoured its heart? What care I for the beautiful brown nut, if it be worm eaten, and fill the mouth with corruption? Even so external beauty of person deserves no praise, unless matched with the inward beauty of virtue and holiness. It is therefore, far better to acquire beauty than to be born with it. The best kind is that which does not wither at the touch of fever, like a flower, but lasts and endures on a bed of sickness in old age, and even unto death.'

~ taken from 6000 Sermon Illustrations, an alphabetical collection from leaders and writers of the ages, by Elon Foster

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman who fear the Lord, she will be praised."
Proverbs 31:30

A Peep Behind the Scenes.....

On a recent trip my family listen to this audio drama. We were fascinated! I've read the book and enjoyed it thoroughly- now to be able to hear it dramatized in an exciting, fast-paced, refreshing way was wonderful. I loved each of the colorful characters and, of course their accents. Even, six year old, Lizzie and five year old, Bella, listened and were engrossed. I was greatly convicted of my need to share my faith in God openly without restraint and fear. Rosalie's innocence and quiet modesty was a gentle example of what girls should strive for in our world today.

Lamplighter's description:
"You will be transported back in time to the world of the traveling theatre. Written in 1878, A Peep Behind the Scenes quickly sold over 2.5 million copies. Now, over a century later, it comes to life as a powerful audio drama! You will meet Nora, who, enticed by the lure of fame and blinded by the romance of the theatre, soon grasps the reality of what life is like behind the scenes; Augustus, who thrives in the very small world of himself; Rosalie, whose faith shines bright in a very dark world; Betsy Ann, convinced that nobody loves her because nobody ever did, until she meets the Good Shepherd, Who goes to extremes to seek and to find those are lost. Once you hear this seven-episode epic drama, you will be compelled to share it with family, friends, and neighbors, here and around the world! A Peep Behind the Scenes audio drama-an unforgettable experience!"
~ Taken from Lamplighter publishing.com

Death: Victory and Joy!

Each night before bed, Daddy gives us a bedtime snack of Charles Spurgeon from his Morning and Evening devotionals. What an amazing man of God! We sink into our beds overcome with hope and awakened to the mercy of our Heavenly Father. Some of my favorite quotes are about death. Martin Luther wore a ring with a skull on it and told his children, "to think on death often." I wish to share a few of Spurgeon's thoughts regarding death, heaven and the joy beyond.

"Now, recollect there is no pain in death, the pain is in life: when a man dies there is an end of life’s pain: death is the pain killer, not the pain maker."

"Some look with intense delight to the prospect of the Saviour’s coming, as a means of escape from death. I confess I have but slender sympathy with them. If I might have my choice, I would prefer, of the two, to die. Let it be as the Lord wills; but there is a point of fellowship with Christ in death which they will miss who shall not sleep; and it seems to me to have some sweetness in it to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, even though he descend into the sepulchre."

"Oh, if we could not die, it would be indeed horrible! Who wants to be chained to this poor life for a century or longer?"

"When you are in good health any form of religion may satisfy, but a dying soul wants more than sand to rest upon. You will want the Rock of Ages. Then let me assure you, that in light of the grave, all confidence, except confidence in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, is a clear delusion."

"I never yet heard regrets from dying men that they had done too much for Christ, or lived too earnestly for him, or won too many souls, or given too much of their substance to the cause of God: but the regrets all lie the other way, God save us from them for his mercy’s sake."

- Charles Spurgeon

Quotes from: Spurgeon.us