My Heart Is There

 

 

Spending time with the Lord in the morning is so precious to me.  As I've told you Gail-Friends before, Streams in the Desert  is my favorite daily devotional guide.**  I've been using it for many years - over fifty - Wow!   I love the quotes and the poetry.  There is a newer edition with more up to date language, but I prefer my original edition, published in 1925.  I'm on my second copy and it is getting more and more ragged. (My first one fell completely apart.)  Like the Holy Scriptures, I'm always blessed by the focus of the reading for the day.  Yesterday's reading was so right for me.  I have to share it with you. 

My beloved, but tattered, copy of Streams

This is the Streams reading for August 26 that vividly expresses my heart:

"I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the “depths” said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.
—Margaret Bottome

“My heart is there!

’Where, on eternal hills, my loved one dwells

Among the lilies and asphodels;

Clad in the brightness of the Great White Throne,

Glad in the smile of Him who sits thereon,

The glory gilding all His wealth of hair

And making His immortal face more fair

THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.

 

“My heart is there!

’With Him who made all earthly life so sweet,

So fit to live, and yet to die so meet;

So mild, so grand, so gentle and so brave,

So ready to forgive, so strong to save.

His fair, pure Spirit makes the Heavens more fair,

And thither rises all my longing prayer

THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.”

—Favorite poem of the late Chas. E. Cowman

 

You cannot detain the eagle in the forest. You may gather around him a chorus of the choicest birds; you may give him a perch on the goodliest pine; you may charge winged messengers to bring him choicest dainties; but he will spurn them all. Spreading his lofty wings, and with his eye on the Alpine cliff, he will soar away to his own ancestral halls amid the munition of rocks and the wild music of tempest and waterfall.

 

The soul of man, in its eagle soarings, will rest with nothing short of the Rock of Ages. Its ancestral halls are the halls of Heaven. Its munitions of rocks are the attributes of God. The sweep of its majestic flight is Eternity! “Lord, THOU hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”
—Macduff

 

“My Home is God Himself”; Christ brought me there.

I laid me down within His mighty arms;

He took me up, and safe from all alarms

He bore me “where no foot but His hath trod,”

Within the holiest at Home with God,

And bade me dwell in Him, rejoicing there.

O Holy Place! O Home divinely fair!

And we, God’s little ones, abiding there.

 

“My Home is God Himself”; it was not so!

A long, long road I traveled night and day,

And sought to find within myself some way,

Aught I could do, or feel to bring me near;

Self effort failed, and I was filled with fear,

And then I found Christ was the only way,

That I must come to Him and in Him stay,

And God had told me so.

 

And now “my Home is God,” and sheltered there,

God meets the trials of my earthly life,

God compasses me round from storm and strife,

God takes the burden of my daily care.

O Wondrous Place! O Home divinely fair!

And I, God’s little one, safe hidden there.

Lord, as I dwell in Thee and Thou in me,

So make me dead to everything but Thee;

That as I rest within my Home most fair,

My soul may evermore and only see

My God in everything and everywhere;

My Home is God.

—Author Unknown

 

I hope you are blessed and encouraged by this devotional.  I'd love to know if you use a daily devotional guide and why you love it.

**You can read my other posts about Streams HERE

Blessings to you all.

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Thankful Thursday - Quietness and Peace

I'm so thankful for books and. I must confess, I'm a hopeless book hoarder.  My husband is, too, so our home has them overflowing in every room. (Yes, the bathroom, too.)

One of my absolute favorites is Streams in the Desert, which I've used since 1976.  My first copy fell apart, and the one below is getting very worn.  Understandable, since I've used it daily since 1988. 



I love it, though, because I've made notes in the margins and on the inside of the covers.  It has become a kind of journal, really.  I especially love the poetry Mrs. Cowan included.  This one, about quietness, touched me this week:

 "He giveth quietness." O Elder Brother,
Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,
Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,
That in our losses we might find our gain.

Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,
I ask but this: in every troubled hour
To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,
And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.

Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling
In the still air of faith's untroubled day;
Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,
My hand in Thine along the darkening way.

Content to know there comes a radiant morning
When from all shadows I shall find release,
Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning--
Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?

I don't know about you, Gail-Friends, but I prize quietness and peace in my life above everything.  I guess it's because the early years of my life were filled with drama of one kind or another.  I'm so thankful to have learned the value of quietness and peace, which I learned through trials that led me to treasure quiet, alone time with my Heavenly Father.

As a young woman, I would obsess over my problems for days.  My mind was like a hampster wheel, running over and over again.  But, over time I learned to focus on being still in a quiet place.  Usually, I'd sit outside on my porch and gaze at the trees.  I'd thank Him for the trees, the birds, and the clouds.  

Then, I'd read the Scriptures, usually the Psalms.  A verse would stand out to me, and I'd focus on it, reading it out loud over and over again.  Then, I'd write the verse in my journal.  Taking my mind off my problem and focusing on His Word filled my heart with the sweetest peace, because He was speaking to me through the Scriptures.   

I also learned to pray this prayer often:

In the beginning, my quiet time was short, maybe ten to fifteen minutes.  Over the years, the time expanded.  Now, I linger long, enjoying our time together so very much.  As I've clung to this process, I've found that every trial has brought me closer to Him and taught me things no one can ever take away.  Sitting still, talking to Him, reading the Scriptures, and listening to His voice can turn into hours filled with JOY.  Oh, how I love sitting at His feet.

Thankful Thursday is my day to focus on, and be thankful for, the good things in my life.  

**You can read my previous post about this devotional book at this link:  Sreams in the Desert 
and you can read this devotional on line at http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/
You can even have it delivered to your phone daily



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G-d Knows

My tattered copy of Streams

A book I've used for over 40 years

Since the early 70's, I have enjoyed the daily devotional Streams in the Desert,** by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.

Yes, the language is quite old-fashioned, but I find it precious and enjoy it immensely.  The devotionals often use poetry, and those poems have been a great influence on my own poetic pieces.








The following devotional deeply touched me. I hope it encourages you, dear readers.

(I have taken the liberty to change the name of G-d to reflect my honor and respect of His Holy Name.  I've also made some personal observations at the end.)

G-d Knows

"He knoweth the way that I take" (Job 23:10).

Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious, tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim.

That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that kindles it, but we have the assurance that the fires are lighted not to consume, but to refine; and that when the refining process is completed (no sooner--no later) He brings His people forth as gold.

When they think Him least near, He is often nearest. "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then thou knewest my path."

Do we know of ONE brighter than the brightest radiance of the visible sun, visiting our chamber with the first waking beam of the morning; an eye of infinite tenderness and compassion following us throughout the day, knowing the way that we take?

The world, in its cold vocabulary in the hour of adversity, speaks of "Providence"--"the will of Providence"--"the strokes of Providence." PROVIDENCE! what is that?

Why dethrone a living, directing G-d from the sovereignty of His own earth? Why substitute an inanimate, death-like abstraction, in place of an acting, controlling, personal Adonai?

How it would take the sting from many a goading trial, to see what Job saw (in his hour of aggravated woe, when every earthly hope lay prostrate at his feet)--no hand but the Divine. He saw that hand behind the gleaming swords of the Sabeans--he saw it behind the lightning flash--he saw it giving wings to the careening tempest--he saw it in the awful silence of his rifled home.

"The L-rd gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the L-rd!"

Thus seeing G-d in everything, his faith reached its climax when this once powerful prince of the desert, seated on his bed of ashes, could say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." --Macduff

 ******

I agree with the author, when she asks, "Providence?  What's that?"  I also feel sad when people give credit to "the universe".  I have a loving Father who is very involved in my life and with whom I communicate daily.  I see His hand moving in my life in every circumstance of every day, no matter how joyous or painful.

Having lived over sixty years, I have been through many fires of affliction and trial myself, so I identify with and relate to my ancestor, Job.  I, too, have learned to say,  "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him"  and  and "The L-rd gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the L-rd!"

I did not learn this over night, believe me.  There have been times I've thought, L-rd, what are you doing?  Can this be right? I don't understand why you have allowed this.  But over time, as I have seen all things work together for my good, I know Him to be a kind, loving, tender Heavenly Father, and have learned to trust all His dealings with me. 

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**My first volume of Streams was discovered at a garage sale.  That copy was read daily, and completely worn out, so I purchased another used copy.  I've made many notes in both copies, and I treasure them as a sort of journal of my walk with the L-rd over the last 40 years.    My second copy, too, is now falling apart, so I'm looking for another.  I want an old (antique) version, as both of mine were published over 50 years ago.

Recently, I was delighted to find the Streams devotionals  at CrossWalk on line,  because now I can not only read them online, but also share them with others. I can't tell you how many times I have made copies of a day's devotion to give or mail to a friend, and this will make it so much easier.   Here is the link, and I hope you enjoy and are blessed by this daily devotional as much as I:  http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/

Shalom Y'all!

Linking up with my friends today at:

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