Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Jesus, I my cross have taken,

All to leave and follow Thee.

Destitute, despised, forsaken,

Thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish every fond ambition,

All I’ve sought or hoped or known.

Yet how rich is my condition!

God and Heaven are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me,

They have left my Savior, too.

Human hearts and looks deceive me;

Thou art not, like them, untrue.

And while Thou shalt smile upon me,

God of wisdom, love and might,

Foes may hate and friends disown me,

Show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure!

Come, disaster, scorn and pain!

In Thy service, pain is pleasure;

With Thy favor, loss is gain.

I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”;

I have set my heart on Thee:

Storms may howl, and clouds may gather,

All must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me,

’Twill but drive me to Thy breast.

Life with trials hard may press me;

Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.

Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me

While Thy love is left to me;

Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me,

Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Take, my soul, thy full salvation;

Rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;

Joy to find in every station

Something still to do or bear:

Think what Spirit dwells within thee;

What a Father’s smile is thine;

What a Savior died to win thee,

Child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

Haste then on from grace to glory,

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer,

Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee,

God’s own hand shall guide thee there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;

Hope soon change to glad fruition,

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

-- Henry Lyte

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #16

I'm thankful for:

0301. food to eat

0302. spring

0303. Radical by David Platt

0304. western movies

0305. freedom

0306. life

0307. liberty

0308. the pursuit of happiness in Christ

0309. best friends

0310. waterfalls

0311. inspiration for songs

0312. Psalm 106

0313. the opportunity to share my testimony a few weeks ago

0314. witnessing opportunities that challenge me

0315. informative books

0316. my wonderful mother, who is a fantastic example to me of selfless service to others

0317. and my wonderful father, a man after God's own heart and an example to me of humility and grace

0318. 1 Timothy

0319. challenging quotes.  When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

0320. discipline

A Ballad of Trees and the Master

Into the woods my Master went,
Clean forspent, forspent.
Into the woods my Master came,
Forspent with love and shame.
But the olives they were not blind to Him,
The little gray leaves were kind of Him:
The thorn-tree had a mind to Him
When into the woods He came.


Out of the woods my Master went,
And He was well content.
Out of the woods my Master came,
Content with death and shame.
When Death and Shame would woo Him last,
From under the trees they drew Him last:
‘Twas on a tree they slew Him—last
When out of the woods He came.


-- Sidney Lanier

Love Has a Price Tag

We eat breakfast with Mr. Smith, a very handsome man with white hair, ruddy skin and bright blue eyes. He is wearing a blue shirt and blue sweater. He tells us a story which brings into sharp focus the words of the wedding vows—“in sickness and in health, for better, for worse.” His wife has been a patient at Milledgeville for three years.

“When she first got sick I carried her everywhere. I did. The doctor said, ‘She’ll get worse, every week and every month. So if you want to go on any trips or anywhere, go now.’ We had some good times, me and her. But the doctor said, ‘You cain’t stand it. You won’t be able to stand it.’ Well, I said, ‘Ah’m’on’ hang on long’s I can.’

“I took care of her for five years, but I lost fifty-two pounds just from worry. I was so tense they broke three needles tryin’ to put a shot in my arm. Well, I carried her to twenty-five doctors but they couldn’t do nothin’. It’s brain deter’ation, they told me. I did everything for her. I dressed her and fed her and everything, but it like to whup me and if it hadn’t of been for the good Lord I’da never made it. Doctor said, ‘I’da sworn you’d never last six months.’ But a lot of people were prayin’ for me. Oh yes. But finally I had to give up and put her here.

“She cain’t do nothin’. Cain’t move or speak or hear. She’s in the prebirth position, legs and arms locked, heels locked up tight behind. You cain’t straighten her out. But I come every other day. I go in and kiss her ‘bout a dozen times, jes’ love her to death. I talk to her. She don’t hear, but she knows my touch.

“Well.” Mr. Smith finished his story. “I work for the florist here. Volunteer work, you know. I go around the wards, carrying flowers.”

We went later to see Mrs. Smith. If ever there was a sight to confound a man’s love for a woman, to strain to the breaking point the most potent human passion, we saw it in that stark white crib—a crumbled scrap of inert humanity. But there is a love that is strong as death, a love many waters cannot quench, floods cannot drown.


-- Elisabeth Elliot

* excerpt taken from "Love Has a Price Tag" by Elisabeth Elliot, pages 109-111

Going to the zoo, Part #2

Part #2 of going to the zoo...

All the kangaroos were flopped on the ground like this.