Amazing Grace

 

One of the world's most beautiful and best loved hymns sung 

in the native Cherokee language of my ancestors.

Amazing Grace

(1997, 2002)

Walela
Triloka Records

Wednesday's Word: Have Faith In God, My Heart

 

"Now faith is the assurance, (the confirmation, the title deed) of
the things we hope for, being proof of things we do not see and the
conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact) what is
not revealed to the senses."
(Hebrews 11:1)

Cardinals In Winter
(2021)
Margaret Abate
Image courtesy/Fine Art America

Have faith in God, my heart. 

Trust and be unafraid;

God will fulfill in every part

Each promise He has made.

Have faith in God, my mind,

Though oft thy light burns low;

God's mercy holds a wiser plan

Than thou canst fully know.

Have faith in God, my soul,

His cross forever stands;

And neither life nor death can pluck

His children from His hands.

Lord Jesus, make me whole;

Grant me no resting place,

Until I rest, mind, heart, and soul,

The captive of Thy grace.

"Have Faith In God, My Heart"
Bryn Austin Rees
(1911-1983)
English clergyman, RAF chaplain
and hymn writer

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the
 shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem
and see this saying that has come to pass, which the Lord
has made known to us."
(Luke 2:15)

The Annunciation To The Shepherds

(1895)

Henry Ossawa Tanner

(1859-1937)

 American painter

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,

all seated on the ground

an angel of the Lord came down,

and glory shone around.

"Fear not," said he for mighty dread

had seized their troubled minds,

"Glad tidings of great joy I bring

to you and all mankind.

To you, in David's town, this day

is born of David's line

a Savior Who is Christ the Lord;

and this shall be a sign:

The heavenly Babe you there shall find

to human view displayed,

all simply wrapped in swaddling clothes

and in a manger laid."

Thus spoke the angel.

Suddenly appeared a throng of angels

praising God, who thus addressed

their joyful song:

"All glory be to God on high

and to the earth be peace;

to those on whom His favor rests

goodwill shall never cease."

"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"
(1700)
Nahum Tate
(1652-1715)
Anglo-Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist
who became British Poet Laureate in 1692.

Monday Meditation: The King Shall Come

"Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up,
you age-abiding doors, that the King of glory may come in!"
(Psalm 24:7)

Messiah Gate

Jerusalem, Israel
Image courtesy/Wikipedia

The King shall come when morning dawns,

And light triumphant breaks,

When beauty gilds the eastern hills

And life to joy awakes.

Not as of old a little Child,

To bear and fight and die,

But crowned with glory like the sun,

That lights the morning sky.

O brighter than the rising morn

When He, victorious, rose,

And left the lonesome place of death,

Despite the rage of foes.

O brighter than the glorious morn

Shall this fair morning be,

When Christ our King in beauty comes,

And we His face shall see!

The King shall come when morning dawns

And light and beauty brings;

Hail Christ the Lord! Thy people pray,

Come quickly, King of kings!

Amen.

"The King Shall Come"
Translated from Greek by
 Reverend John Brownlie
(1859-1925)
Scottish clergyman and hymnist

Sunday Night In Uncle Walt's Vault: Nosey The Sweetest Skunk In The West

 

The adventures of an orphaned baby skunk adopted by a young girl
  and her nature artist father living in the Arizona desert.

Nosey The Sweetest Skunk In The West

(1972)

The Wonderful World Of Disney

Keeping Walt In Disney

Christmas Through Art: Jehovah Tsidkenu/The Lord Our Righteousness

 

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up
to David a righteous Branch and He will reign as King and do wisely
and execute justice and righteousness in the land.

In His days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely:
and this is His name by which He shall be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness."
(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

"Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews?
For we have seen His star in the east at its rising
and have come to worship Him."
(Matthew 2:2)

Three Wise Men

Image courtesy/Pinterest

We three kings of Orient are;

Bearing gifts we traverse afar,

Field and fountain, moor and mountain,

Following yonder star.

O star of wonder, star of light,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain,

Gold I bring to crown Him again,

King forever, ceasing never,

Over us all to reign.

O star of wonder, star of light,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Frankincense to offer have I;

Incense owns a Deity nigh;

Prayer and praising, voices raising,

Worshiping God on high.

O star of wonder, star of light,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume

Breathes a life of gathering gloom;

Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,

Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.

O star of wonder, star of light,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Glorious now behold Him arise;

King and God and Sacrifice

Alleluia, Alleluia,

Sounds through the earth and skies.

O star of wonder, star of light,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

"We Three Kings"
(1857)
John Henry Hopkins Jr.
(1820-1891)
American clergyman  and hymnologist.
He wrote his most famous hymn
as part of a Christmas pageant for
his nieces and nephews.

And The Light Dwells With Him

 

"Were you present to hear the secret counsel of God?
And do you limit the possession of wisdom to yourself?
(Job 15:8)

"The secret of the sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord
have they who revere and worship Him, and He will show them
His covenant and reveal to them its deep inner meaning."
(Psalm 25:14)

Yeshua, The Way, The Truth, And The Life

Image courtesy/Pinterest

"He changes the times and the seasons;  He removes kings and sets up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding!
He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, 
 and the light dwells with Him!
(Daniel 2: 21-22)

"And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.  And He does
according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth,
and none can stay His hand or say to Him, What are you doing?"  Now at
the same time my reason and understanding returned to me; and the glory
of my kingdom, my majesty, and splendor returned to me, and my counselors
and my lords sought me out;  I was reestablished in my kingdom, and still
more greatness than before was added to me.  Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, Whose works are all
faithful and right and Whose ways are just. And those who walk in pride
He is able to abase and humble."
(Daniel 4:35-37)

"But when you pray, go into your most private room, and closing the door,
pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret,
will reward you in the open.  And when you pray, do not heap up phrases,
multiply words, repeating the same over and over, as the Gentiles do,
for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Do not be
like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
(Matthew 6:6-8)

"If any man desires to do His will, God's pleasure, he will know, have
the needed illumination to recognize, and tell for himself whether the
teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of
My own accord and on My own authority.  He who speaks on his
own authority seeks to win honor for himself. He who teachings
originate with himself seeks his own glory. But He Who seeks
the glory and is eager for the honor of Him Who sent Him,
He is true; and there is no unrighteousness or falsehood
or deception in Him."
(John 7:17-18)

"I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant
does not know what is master is doing, working out. But I have
called you My friends, because I have made known to you
everything that I have heard from My Father.  I have revealed
to you everything I have learned from Him.  You have not
chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you
that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and
that your fruit may be lasting, that it may remain, abide,
so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name as
presenting all that I AM, He may give it to you."
(John 15: 15-16)

Yeshua Is The Light

(2010)

Zemer Levav