Wide, Wide as the Ocean

                 Wide, wide as the ocean,

                High as the heavens above, 

                Deep, deep as the deepest sea

                Is my Savior's love.

                I though so unworthy,

                Still I'm a child of His love,

                For His word teaches me

                That His love reaches me

                Anywhere!

        Recently I spent several days on an ocean beach with my daughters and grandson.  I am not really a beach person or much of a water person, so I spent most of the time sitting on the beach and watching them play and watching the waves.  A chorus popped into my head as I watched and I sang over and over again, "Wide, wide as the ocean."  So, naturally that was in my mind as I began thinking about my blog for this weekend.  That wide love is summarized in a couple of places.  I started looking for special ones.  I John 4:9, "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him."  The sweetest one to me is Romans 8:38 and 39, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Nothing can separate me from God's love.

        I thought of many songs that dealt with the love of God and one song came to mind that I thought might fit my thoughts, but I could only remember the first two lines.  But now that I've looked up the rest of the song I realize how powerful it is.  Frederick Faber was far more eloquent than I could ever  be.  So here are the words for "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy."

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea;

There's a kindness in His justice,

Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth's sorrows

Are more felt than up in Heaven;

There is no place where earth's failings

Have such kindly judgment given

There is welcome for the sinner,

And more graces for the good;

There is mercy with the Savior;

There is healing in His blood.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of our mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed;

There is joy for all the members

In the sorrows of the Head.

If our love were but more simple,

We should take Him at His word;

And our lives would be all sunshine

In the sweetness of our Lord.

Souls of men! Why will ye scatter

Like a crowd of frightened sheep?

Foolish hearts!  why will ye wander

From a love so true and deep?

It is God:  His love looks mighty,

But is mightier than it seems;

'Tis our Father:  and His fondness

Goes far out beyond our dreams.

But we make His love too narrow

By false limits of our own;

And we magnify His strictness 

With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd

Half so gentle, half so sweet

As the Savior who would have us

Come and gather at His feet?

                I have my favorite lines in this song, but I will let you pick your own.  Come meditate with me on the love of God.

                                                                            ~~Faith Himes Lamb

Ephesus: The Faithful Forgetters

           Around sixty years after He returned to heaven, Jesus sent messages to seven churches in the country of Turkey. His letters to them have long fascinated me; they are succinct, but rich in depth and application. What would He say to Grace Baptist Church if He were to send us a letter? What would He say to me?
          Recently, I had the idea to write a series of poems about what He wrote to the seven churches for my poetry blog. So, it happens that my turn today to write for Cup of Grace coincides with posting the Ephesus poem to my personal blog.
          May we each take time to sit before Him this week, pondering His words from two millennia ago that are still so vital in 2023. May our hearts reply, whether in whisper or in shout, “Yes, Lord, I love You!”
 
 – MaryBeth Hall
 
 

Ephesus: The Faithful Forgetters

Revelation 2:1-7

 
Years of faithful serving
And patient laboring,
Truth affirming,
Evil hating –
Yet their light was flickering.
 
What threatened to their lamp extinguish?
Christ said they had their love relinquished.
Perhaps loss started undistinguished
As cynicism of experience
Stole joy, but led to rebuke’s anguish.
 
Christ’s words hurt, but they could heal;
He saw inside all that was real
Past duty’s persevering steel
To love that had become congealed.
He said “Remember, repent” in zeal.
 
Your eyes look even where I dwell:
I’ve served You long, and perhaps well,
But Father, Savior, Spirit, tell
What is inside – does love for You make my heart swell
Ardently unparalleled?
 
Oh, may it ever, ever be
That love for Jesus inside me
Is living, vibrant, flowing free
Back to the One Who died for me!
His love gave all at Calvary.

Every Day

 

How many things that you do go seemingly unnoticed? I’m betting it’s a lot. Whether at work or at home—and sometimes those are the same—we all do so many repetitive things in an ordinary day that no one even sees them. No one says, “Hey, you cleaned that commode!” or “Look at this! The floor has been swept again.” There is no “Good job getting here on time and answering the phone,” no “Thanks for responding to all your emails.”

Sometimes we do things on a less-than-daily basis. We might expect those would be noticed. Still, I don’t hear, “I notice you wiped the toothpaste spatters off the mirror” or “I declare! The front door sure looks clean.” To tell the truth, I don’t expect to be praised for doing these things. It’s usually enough for me that I see and appreciate them. 

This week, as I was cleaning a door (not the front door) that had been irritating me for some time, I thought, No one but me will notice I’ve done this, but I will take pleasure in it. And then I realized, I have the same attitude toward the many, many blessings I get from God on a daily basis. I don’t wake up and say, “Wow! The sun has returned” or “My legs are still working!” I just go about my day enjoying this wonderful, ordinary life God has given me. I imagine that God takes pleasure in the wonders of his world and his own faithfulness even if we fail to notice.

I do realize that many of you express your thankfulness often for the glory of sunsets, the beauty of flowers, and the sweet families and friends you are surrounded by. I see your Facebook posts and I hear your conversation. Good job! Keep that up.

Psalm 107 says over and over “O that men would praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” This passage names different groups of people who see—or have seen—God’s goodness: those who wandered in the wilderness, those who are in darkness of their own making, those who are fools, those who sail on the ocean. All of these people come to a low point in life and are motivated to call out for help, and God always helps them.

I don’t want to wait until I’m in trouble to call on God or to offer him praise for his goodness. I see God’s good work in my life every day, and every day is a good time to thank him for what he has done and for what he continues to do. Every day. 

--Sherry Poff

God Is In It

 

Some years ago, one of my husband’s co-workers asked him what he thought about a recent (at that time) development in society. After he gave his answer, she replied angrily, “Why do you always have to bring God into it?” A shallow answer, an irrelevant opinion or a logical analysis would have suited her, for the purpose of conversation, as long as God was not in it.

But what does God Himself say?

Ps 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” I Cor. 10:26 repeats this Scripture as an answer to a recent (at that time) development in society! The Apostle Paul obviously thought this Scripture implied God’s involvement in every aspect of life.

When King Solomon dedicated to God the temple he had built, he gave a public prayer asking God to hear and respond to his people in a host of circumstances. When someone had been wronged, he asked God to punish the wicked and vindicate the innocent. He urged God to help his people when there had been a military defeat, when there was drought, famine, plague, blight, afflictions and pains. He asked God to hear the foreigner asking for help, the soldiers going to war, and the sinner asking forgiveness. He asked God to “teach them the right way to live” and to “deal with everyone according to all they do.” 2 Chron 6.

If the wisest man who ever lived believed God is involved in every aspect of life, maybe we would do well to agree.

Unbelievers and even many who claim to be Christians want to separate life into religious and secular segments.  Believers who “always have to bring God into it” are not actually bringing Him into our daily lives; we are acknowledging what is already true. May He give us grace and courage to help others see Him.

--Lynda Shenefield