Shine Thou Upon Us, Lord #195

Taken from the New Trinity Hymnal ~~

Shine thou upon us, Lord,
True Light of men, today,
And through the written Word
Thy very self display,
That so from hearts which burn
With gazing on thy face
Thy little ones may learn
The wonders of thy grace.

Breathe thou upon us, Lord,
Thy Spirit's living flame,
That so with one accord
Our lips may tell thy name.
Give thou the hearing ear,
Fix thou the wandering thought,
That those we teach may hear
The great things thou hast wrought.

Speak thou for us, O Lord,
In all we say of thee;
According to thy Word
Let all our teaching be,
That so thy lambs may know
Their own true Shepherd's voice,
Where'er he leads them go,
And in his love rejoice.

Live thou within us, Lord;
Thy mind and will be ours;
Be thou belov'd, adored,
And served with all our powers,
That so our lives may teach
Thy children what thou art,
And plead, by more than speech,
For thee with ev'ry heart.

Down in the valley ~~

"God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way…The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you."

~~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Which woman am I?

The fact that I am a woman 

does not make me a different kind of Christian, 

but the fact that I am a Christian

 does make me a different kind of a woman ...

 ~~ Elizabeth Elliott

Reminder to Self ~~

Pam ~~ stop treating Proverbs 31 like a checklist,
 separate from the rest of the book, 
but rather like the embodiment of 
a woman living the rest of the book!

Duty to pray for our Pastors ~~

Pray for us; 

for we are confident that we have a good conscience,

 in all things desiring to live honorably.

~Hebrews 13:18

"This is one part of the duty which people owe to their ministers. Ministers need the prayers of the people; and the more earnestly the people pray for their ministers the more benefit they may expect to reap from their ministry. They should pray that God would teach those who are to teach them, that He would make them vigilant, and wise, and zealous, and successful--that He would assist them in all their labours, support them under all their burdens, and strengthen them under all their temptations."

~Matthew Henry

rustling leaves ~~

"The whole course and series of divine providence towards the saints is like a music-book, in every leaf whereof there is a song ready pricked for them to learn and sing to the praise of their God. No passage in their life of which they can say, 'In this I received no mercy for which I should bless God.'"

~William Gurnall

Prayer ...

James Smith said,

"A real Christian has sympathy with all true believers. They are taken up into his heart, and are included in his prayers. For them he praises God, and for them he pleads with God. As one with Christ, he is one with them. As interested in Christ, he feels interested in them. They may be poor and needy, they may be oppressed and despised, they may be weak and feeble—but they excite his admiration, and draw forth his love."