Come O Lord Like Morning Sunlight

"Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands; together let the hills sing for joy.
Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge and rule the earth;
with righteousness will He judge and rule the world
and the peoples with equity."
(Psalm 98:7-9)

Epiphany

(1480)

Fernando Gallego

(1440-1507)

Castillan painter

Come O Lord, like morning sunlight

Making all life new and free;

For the daily task and challenge

May we rise renewed in Thee.

Come, O Lord, like ocean flood tides,

Flowing in-land from the sea;

As the waters fill the shallows,

May ours souls be filled with Thee.

Come, O Lord, like mountain breezes,

Fresh'ning in vale and lea;

In the heat and stress of duty

May our souls find strength in Thee.

Come, O Lord, like evening twilight,

Bringing peace on land and sea;

At the radiant close of labor

May our souls find rest in Thee.

"Come, O Lord, Like Morning Sunlight"
(1927)
Milton Smith Littlefield
(1864-1934)
American Presbyterian minister
and hymn writer
Music: "Trust"
(1840)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
(1809-1847)
German composer

Watch What Happens When Yeshua Returns To His Hometown - Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat Preaches

 

Beloved brother in the Lord Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat

brings us a powerful message from Israel.

Watch What Happens When Yeshua Returns
To His Hometown /Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat Preaches

messiah ofisrael

January 3, 2022

First Snow Of The Season

 

We had our very first significant snowfall  here in southern New Jersey today!

It is hard to believe that only yesterday it was as warm as springtime

with high temperatures reaching the upper 50's.

Tonight is suppose to clear off and drop down to around 12 degrees!

May be I'll be able to catch sight of a few meteors after all!

 Beautiful sunset after the snow!
(January 3, 2022)
Photograph courtesy of Daniel Kelly

First Monday Meditation

 

"The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever;

  forsake not the work of Your own hands."

(Psalm 138:8)

White Crimson Morning

Kim Norlien

O Zion, Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling

"He said unto them, it is not for you to become acquainted with
and know what time brings, the things and events of time and their
definite periods or fixed years and seasons, their critical niche in time,
which the Father has appointed, fixed and reserved by His own choice
and authority and personal power.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and Samaria,
and to the very ends of the earth.

And when He had said this, even as they were looking at Him,
He was caught up and a cloud received and carried Him
away out of their sight."
(Acts 1:7-9)

Jesus Ascending Into Heaven

John Singleton Copley

(1738-1815)

Anglo-American painter

O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,

To tell to all world that God is Light,

That He who made all nations is not willing

One soul should perish, lost in shades of night.

(Refrain)
Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

Behold how many thousands still are lying

Bound in the darksome prison house of sin,

With none to tell them of the Savior's dying,

Or of the life He died for them to win.

Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

Proclaim to every people, tongue, and nation,

That God, in whom they live and move, is Love;

Tell how He stooped to save His lost creation,

And died on earth, that men may live above.

Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious;

Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way;

Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious;

And all thou spendest Jesus will repay.

Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

He comes again: O Zion, ere thou meet Him,

Make known to every heart His saving grace;

Let none whom He hath ransomed fail to greet Him,

Through thy neglect, unfit to see His face.

Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

"O Zion, Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling"
(1870)
Mary Ann Thomson
(1834-1923)

The Story Behind The Song

Mary Ann Thomson (nee Faulkner) was born in London, England.
She and her husband John Thomson emigrated from there to
America in 1881 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where John 
 became the first librarian of the Philadelphia Free Public Library.

The couple had twelve children together, five of whom died in infancy.

Mary Ann wrote the greater part of the hymn, "O Zion, Haste" one
night in 1868 while sitting up with one of her children who had been
stricken with typhoid fever.  She was trying to write a missionary
hymn to the tune of another favorite song called "Hark, Hark,
My Soul, Angelic Songs Are Swelling" however, due to other
circumstances which were most likely on her mind that night,
she left the hymn unfinished.  It was about three years later
that she did finish the song including the refrain as part of it.

Mary Ann was a member of the Church of the Annunciation
in Philadelphia.  She is buried in the city's historic Greenwood Cemetery.

Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2022

 

 Goodness... Gracious... Great Balls of Fire!

With no intentions to shake your nerves or rattle your brain,
the best meteor shower of the new year, the Quadrantids, known for
sending brilliant fireballs streaking across the night sky, will peak
 overnight into January 3rd till January 4th according to Bob Berman 
 at The Old Farmer's Almanac.com

Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2022

Picture courtesy/The Epoch Times

With the right conditions- clear dark skies with the new moon-this shower 
 will feature an average of 25 meteors an hour according to Berman.

 The shower's peak will not be long, lasting from about midnight to dawn.
However, the sheer volume of meteors expected will make this viewing a
  worthwhile experience, especially for all those starry-eyed dreamers like myself,
 who love gazing up at the celestial beauty and peaceful glory of the heavens!

Unfortunately, as we are expected to have rain turning to snow overnight where I live,
I do not think I'll be seeing much of this year's shower up close and personal.

 But I hope the skies above the northeastern horizon are clear where you're at tonight!

My Greatest Prayer And Hope For The New Year

 

"Let the peoples praise You, turn away from their idols,
and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples 
praise and give thanks to You."
(Psalm 67:5)

My prayer in this new year is that the fear of God, which is reverence,
and righteous leadership will be restored in America, and especially in the
realm of politics, be it local, state, or on the federal level, and that our
glorious Constitution, which has been sorely trammeled upon in recent
years, will once again become the law of the land.

This might be considered wishful thinking by some, however,
I believe with God all things are possible.

I also feel that if more Americans would read and study their rights
under the Constitution, they would not be so easily led to believe the
pandemic clap-trap constantly thrown in their faces by those
 who want to control their lives.

Furthermore, I hope that those "in the know" who are promoting
these deadly vaccinations for personal gain and profit, will be exposed
and disgraced by their own selfish ambitions and lust for power and money.

My Italian grandfather liked to say, "II diavolo fa le pentole e non coperchi"
or "The devil makes the pots but not the lids".  This old world proverb means
that like someone cooking with a pot without a lid, sooner or later the pot
will boil over and people will be able to look inside and see it's contents.

It also means that truth and justice will ultimately prevail against 
 those who are doing the Devil's work.

There are many translators of this proverb today who dismiss it out of
hand as merely antiquated thinking, along with belief in the Devil.

Unfortunately for the worldly-wise of the 21st century, and this
includes much of the professing Christian church in America today,
there is a very real enemy of the souls of mankind, whom the
Lord Jesus called, "a liar and a murderer, the father of lies,
and all that is false."

This fallen angel called Satan, who is also known as the god of this world,
comes only to steal, kill, and destroy deceived human beings.  And I think
we have seen more than enough evidence of his handiwork in those he
is using in the attempt to destroy the great nation called America.

The American theologian and revivalist preacher Jonathan Edwards
once said, "Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart,
the great disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ;
it was the first sin that ever was, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's
whole building, and is the most difficulty rooted out, and is the most hidden,
secret and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps in, insensibly, into the
midst of religion and sometimes under the guise of humility."

The good news is that there is hope and restoration not only for this
nation, but for all people through our Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray for 
 a strong revival of the true Cross-centered, Holy Spirit-led faith, 
which our earliest founders like Pastor Edwards believed in,
and on which this nation's Christian heritage came to be.
   There are so many Americans today who are lost spiritually,
 who live in fear, and are devoid of hope. 

Furthermore, Satan knows better than anyone else that he is
running out of time.  Therefore, he is determine to take as many
human souls as possible with him into the lake of fire.

In the words of the prophet Isaiah:

"Except the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant,
we should have been like Sodom, and we should have 
been like Gomorrah."
(Isaiah 1:9)

The remnant of true believers in this nation needs to rise up with
God's authority, and in Christ's love and compassion, and through
the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, boldly speak
the truth to those who are perishing in their sins.
I believe time is of the essence.

Maranatha!

Have a beautiful and blessed New Year!