Friday, December 25, 2009

~A CHRISTMAS POEM





Hymn of the Nativity

Gloomy night embraced the place
    Where the noble Infant lay;
The Babe looked up and showed his face--
    In spite of darkness it was day.

We saw Thee in thy balmy nest,
    Bright dawn of our eternal day!
We saw Thine eyes break from their east,
    And chase the trembling shades away:
We saw Thee, and we blessed the sight,
We saw Thee by Thy own sweet light.

~Richard Crashaw (c. 1613-1649)~

~ ~ ~

Friday, December 11, 2009

~KYRIA.COM: ADVENT

Kyria.com is offering a download entitled "Rediscovering Advent" for $5.95.

There is also a free article available that was published in Today's Christian Woman magazine; it's entitled "Slower Than Christmas."

Thursday, December 10, 2009

~GOODBYE TCW MAGAZINE--HELLO KYRIA.COM



Christianity Today International has decided to cease publication of Today's Christian Woman magazine--the September/October issue was the final one.

This magazine was such an informative and inspiring resource--it's sad to see it go.  A new resource has been created called Kyria, which means "honored woman" in Biblical Greek.  The epistle 2 John is addressed to such a woman.  Kyria is a web-based magazine and ministry.  It will replace todayschristianwoman.com, and all of their archived articles are now at kyria.

For full access to the site, including the monthly digital magazine (digizine), you can buy a subscription for $19.95 a year ($14.95 introductory price).

There are also blogs and downloadable resources.  The downloads aren't free, but if you have a subscription, you'll receive a 20% discount when you buy them.

~ ~ ~

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

~SPARROW WALLPAPER

I found a sweet sparrow wallpaper  at manywallpapers.com--enjoy! :)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

~PROVISION



"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young--
a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King
and my God."
~Psalm 84:3 (NIV)~

~ ~ ~

Drawing from commentary in The MacArthur Study Bible*, Psalm 84 extols what a blessing it is to live in the house of God. In the above verse, the psalmist has noticed that birds have tucked their nests in the courtyards of the temple, thereby dwelling very close to the presence of God.

*Note: I am not in agreement with all of the views MacArthur expresses in this study Bible; however it is an inexhaustible resource which I highly recommend.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

~HYMN: "HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW"--LYRICS , VERSES, STORY


Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely,
And long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled," 
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted,
Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing,
When hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him,
From care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

~ ~ ~

Here are some Bible verses which go along nicely with
this hymn:


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
~Philippians 4:6 (NIV)~

"I cry to you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'"
~Psalm 142:5 (NIV)~

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."
~Psalm 33:14 (NIV)~

"The Lord watches over you--the Lord is your shade at your right hand."
~Psalm 121:5 (NIV)~

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
~Romans 15:13 (NKJV)~

"Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."
~John 14:1 (RSV)~

"Does he not see my ways and count my every step?"
~Job 31:4 (NIV)~

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
~James 4:8a (RSV)~

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
~Hebrews 4:16 (RSV)~

~ ~ ~

~The Story Behind the Hymn~

A woman named Civilla Martin wrote the lyrics to this hymn.  Here is the story behind it, in her own words:

Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York.  We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle, true saints of God.

Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years.  Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair.  Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them.

One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it.  Mrs. Doolittle's reply was simple: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me.  The hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow" was the outcome of that experience....

The next day, Civilla mailed the poem to Charles Gabriel, who supplied the music; during his lifetime he wrote and/or composed between 7,000-8,000 gospel songs.

~ ~ ~

Monday, November 30, 2009

~A SIMILAR VERSE TO MATTHEW 10:29-31


~Matthew 6:24-26~
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Sunday, November 29, 2009

~THOUGHTS ON MATTHEW 10:29-31 AND FACTS ABOUT SPARROWS IN THE BIBLE

It is well known that these treasured verses speak of how every human being is fully known by God and wholly significant to Him.  If He is attune to each of the myriad tiny creatures we call birds, and tracks their flights through life, how much more does He watch our every step.

But what is the significance of the sparrow?  Why was that particular bird chosen over all the others in God's creation?  From reading these verses we see that during the time period when Christ was teaching, sparrows were worth next to nothing materially, since two of them were being sold for such a small sum. I have read that sparrows are considered to be very common birds--in appearance and plentitude.  They have no striking or fanciful colorations, only humble shades of brown and gray.  They are not difficult to come across--if you spot one you won't gasp in shock, and you won't find them on an endangered species list.

You see, God is watching even the humblest of His creatures.  His eye is on every bird--not just the ones that some might consider to be the superstars of the bird world, due to their material worth, their fancy feathers, or their rarity.  It seems this particular bird was chosen because it magnifies the object lesson these verses
teach: God doesn't measure worth in the same way the world sometimes does, and we are all unimaginably precious to Him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Relevant Verses:

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" ~1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)~

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have not compassion on the son of her womb?  Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands." 
~Isaiah 49:15-16a (NKJV)~

"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.  He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." ~Isaiah 53:2 (NIV)~

"But many who have the highest place now will have the lowest place in the future.  And many who have the lowest place now will have the highest place in the future." ~Matthew 19:30 (NCV)~

"For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." 
~1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (RSV)~

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 
~1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quotation:

"God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love." ~Saint Augustine~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click on the following links to find interesting facts about sparrows and the Bible:
~ChristStory Bestiary: Sparrow: The Least
*This is a site which is devoted to animals in the Bible.  It's a Christian site, but information about sparrows from apocryphal writings and from Greek mythology is also included; the Biblical facts are good, though.
In this entry, I don't think the argument concerning Psalm 102:7 is convincing; compare it to ChristStory Bestiary's treatment of the verse.

~Facts about sparrows (Passer Domesticus) on wikipedia.com