White Rain

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?"

Job 38:22

The Lord God asked Job (in Job 38) ~ "Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the frost?" The answer is obvious...

"This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." Isaiah 28:29

In the New Testament, James tells us:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

God's "gifts" include the rain and the snow ~ even if we don't like the cold! Each season, in fact, each morning, brings God's Provisions -- new mercies we see! His faithfulness is so great - it reaches to the heavens! And includes everything He sends from heaven.

"Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." Psalm 36:5

"...All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! --

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest;

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above -

Join with all nature in manifold witness -

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love!"

In 1923, hymn writer, Thomas Chisholm, wrote: "GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS" ~ Truly, God is so faithful to provide all we need! And this can be our 'song' as we consider our Thanksgiving holiday approaching. Enjoy listening to "Selah's" Todd Smith sing this marvelous hymn, knowing how deeply he understands God's faithfulness, experiencing it first hand. (click here: for the article about his daughter / and his wife's blog: "Bring The Rain")

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

(verse 1):

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

(verse 2):

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest: Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness, To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

(verse 3):

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth; Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: To show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night..." Psalm 92:1-2

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him." Lamentations 3:22-25

Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, Wonderful Words of Life!

Hymns ~ are simply beautiful words, put to beautiful music, that "knit" our hearts together with those who love them -- throughout the ages! When someone speaks of their love for hymns, if you love hymns, something deep inside of your heart cries, "Yes! I know!" And this is a 'knowledge of experience' ~ as those who love hymns have found, the Spirit of God has a way of bringing those inspired words into your head, to speak to your heart, at just the time you need them! "Fill my cup, LORD, with that 'soul-quenching water' that never runs dry!" Hymns satisfy a thirst, like no other songs can do. Oh, that we would draw from this well of worship, and learn what "true worship" really is! Sadly, in some areas of our country, we have a whole generation of young people who simply don't know this heritage of our faith.

I found someone who knows this blessing of "growing up" with these inspired works of God!" I pray that God would use her, and the talent she recognizes He has given her, to restore a love for hymns in a new generation! Enjoy listening, as this "lily of the field" shares her thoughts about "hymns" ~ and then, "sings her soul"...

Carrie Underwood singing "How Great Thou Art" ~

Live from The Grand Ole Opry

For more Beautiful Music:


Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, Wonderful Words of Life

Downpour

"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:

as showers that water the earth."

Psalm 72:6

"O how pleasant are the effects of rain to languishing plants, to make them green and beautiful, lively and strong, fragrant and beautiful! So the effects of Christ's influences are most desirable to drooping souls, for enlightening and enlivening them, for confirming and strengthening them, for comforting and enlarging them, for appetizing and satisfying them, transforming and beautifying them. A shower from Christ would soon make the church, though withered, turn green and beautiful, and to send forth a smell as of a field that the Lord hath blessed...

...As nothing can stop the falling of the rain; so nothing can hinder Christ's gracious influences, when He designs to awake, convince, or soften a hard heart. When those showers do fall on sinners, the most 'obstinate will' must yield, and cry, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?' "

~ John Willison

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, 'Saul, Saul...'
And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And he trembling and astonished said, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?'

Acts 9:3-6

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.

Deuteronomy 32:1-4

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning ~ Oh, What A Beautiful Day!

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"Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own."

~ CHARLES DICKENS

What a beautiful day! It must have reached 70 degrees this afternoon in western NY! And, as I worked outside, to clean up the rest of the gardens, getting them ready for winter, I noticed, in my November garden, a single red rose, in bloom!

It must have been that type of day, when the Angel of the LORD visited Abraham and Sarah, and announced that "according to the time of life," Sarah would have a son! And Sarah laughed! It was certainly past the 'season' for child-bearing, seeing that Sarah was 90 years old. (Genesis 17:17) How often do we believe the 'season' is past, then God surprises us with something only He can do? "Tis the season"!

God's ways are not our ways! And His Timing, often, is not our timing -- but His Timing is always perfect! There is "much" He has to work out ~ in our lives, in our character, in our relationships -- before He can entrust us with His redemptive plans and purposes ~ in serving Him. He uses the "wheel of circumstances" to fashion our lives, molding us into His image, and all that He's designed for us -- just as a potter would mold some clay for a specific use.
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"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:8-9
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At the Lord's "appointed time" He "visited Sarah" as He had said, and He "did unto Sarah" as He had spoken! (Genesis 18:14; 21:1) God named this baby "Isaac" which means "laughter" ~ because Sarah laughed at the idea of bearing a child in her old age!

The Lord gently reminded Sarah:

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"Is anything too hard for the LORD?"

Genesis 18:14

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We, too, must often "wait for the Lord" -- for the promises He has spoken to our hearts, and for His guidance and direction in our lives. His answers don't always come right away - as we'd like them to! Rather, we must wait for it! When we get discouraged, and feel too much time has gone by, we must ask Him to strengthen our hearts to "wait"!! He is always faithful to encourage us -- whether through His Word, through something shared by a friend, or through a circumstance, because, He is FAITHFUL! Let's not impeach His Word or His Character, by giving in to doubt... by having our attitudes reveal that, in fact, we actually believe: He isn't able! Or - in believing that He may have lied to us - going back on His Word, or that He simply has not followed through on His promises. God's Word tells us that we're the ones that need to "follow on":

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"...follow on to know..."

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning;

and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." ~ Hosea 6:3

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This wonderful verse imparts a whole lot of understanding about God's Timing! It tells us, first, that we must "follow on to know"! If we quit waiting and quit hoping, quit praying, and quit seeking the Lord -- whether individually, or with others -- by moving on with our lives and taking matters into our own hands, doing our best thinking, apart from God, ... we'll never know! We'll never know, then, what God might have been preparing to work through us!

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Secondly, it tells us, that, "His going forth" is PREPARED. And, to emphasize this point, God gives us an example: "prepared as the morning." Did the morning ever come sooner than it was suppose to? Does the morning just "pop up" whenever it wants? No, God has a "set time" for the morning, and this has been true throughout the ages. If there is something you can count on, it's that "tomorrow is another day" as Scarlett O'Hara would say! "As surely as the sun rises" --

God is telling us, you can count on His "going forth" -- it is guaranteed, and it will happen in God's "set time."
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Thirdly, God reaffirms this, when He tells us: "He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain..." These "rains" were indicators of the seasons in Israel. The "former rains" were the first rains, that came in the autumn, to soften the ground for plowing, making it ready for planting. The "latter rains" were the spring rains, that matured the crops to ready them for the harvest. The people needed both - in their "season." And it could have been a mess, had the rains come out of season! Here, God is saying to us, that He "comes to us" in His season. At the right time. His perfect time. He tells us:
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"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the Heaven"

Ecclesiastes 3:1

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You might be thinking, that you're not expecting to see "His going forth" -- or not waiting for some big "visitation" - not thinking that He's going to show up at your door, or, not believing that "He shall come unto you"?? ... So... how does God "appear" to us? In 1 Samuel, we find a really wonderful truth:
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"And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh
by the word of the LORD." ~ 1 Samuel 3:21
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When God reveals His Word to us, God "appears" to us! Jesus Christ is THE WORD, and John's gospel tells us, that the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us! (John 1:1, 14) God also declares through His prophet Isaiah, that He sends forth His Word, as the rain and the snow, to accomplish His purposes. Not only does His Word originate with Him, but He sends it according to His "season" --
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"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth,
and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." ~ Isaiah 55:10-11
~
God "comes to us" in the same manner -- "in His season, according to the appointed time" --
to fulfill His promises, to give us a word of direction or encouragement, to work in the midst of our circumstances, and to bring healing, restoration, or salvation to those we lift up in prayer before Him. He hears our prayers, and He answers according to His "set time." This is God's Way --

and this is the means by which He "exercises" us. ~ FOR...

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"He makes everything beautiful in His Time!"

Ecclesiastes 3:11

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So, are you "waiting" for His Word? Have you placed yourself in a position to "receive His Word"? Is the ground of your heart softened by the rain of His Spirit, to receive what He's waiting to give? If so, like Abraham and Sarah -- with "Isaac" -- it's always pure joy, when He answers, because we're not just receiving "some-thing" -- we're actually experiencing Him! He comes to us in the midst of our circumstance ~ to redeem it for His glory!!

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But if not, -- if you hear His Word, and reject it, -- you may experience a "blindness" of sorts: never "seeing" what God might have wanted to do in and through your life, ... or a truth that He wanted to reveal to your heart, ... and as a result, you may find yourself "locked out" of God's perfect plan, and find your heart heavy with the labor of carrying the load yourself.

"Some sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High: Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help." ~ Psalm 107:10-12

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Wait! Good News!! God "exercises" us through these trials, and often, the very circumstances that seem to "lock us out" of blessings and fulfillment, -- God uses to reveal to us, that we have, in fact, locked the door from the inside! Keeping Him out ~ not letting His Word in! -- It is easy, after all, to release the lock and step out into the light of His Word once again. Simply call out to Him! He is waiting to "send forth His Word"! Waiting to unveil the hidden things, by shining the light of His Truth, and releasing those who are prisoners of their circumstances! He is a great and mighty God! And He is able!

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"Call unto Me and I will answer thee!"

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in sunder.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

For He hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Psalm 107:13-16

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"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee

great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

Jeremiah 33:3

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What "season" are you experiencing in your life?

Are you waiting on the Lord to fulfill His Word to you?

Are you "following on to know"?-

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"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,

and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD!"

Psalm 27:14

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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace...

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made every thing beautiful in His time.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

That Beautiful Name

"I know of a Name, a beautiful Name,
That angels brought down to earth;
They whispered it low,
One night long ago,
To a maiden of lowly birth.
That Beautiful Name,
That Beautiful Name,
From sin has pow'r to free us!
That Beautiful Name,
That Wonderful Name,
That matchless Name is Jesus!"
~ THAT BEAUTIFUL NAME
Words by Jean Perry, 1916; Music by Mabel Johnston Camp


I cut my teeth on hymns... real meat. And, to be honest, hymns are my 'preference.' I can't help "feeling" that a lot of the choruses sung "over and over and over" by many of today's church 'worship bands' -- are milk. Skim milk. Rather than being songs of adoration - directed toward our Beautiful Savior, the focus of many, (but not all), seem to be centered on "me and I" --- another 'by-product' of our "me" generation. When I was in Junior High School, my younger sister and I would sing our favorite hymns on the way to church - which was a 30 minute drive from home. Not much on the radio back then!
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Some of our "favorites" were songs like: "Love Found A Way.... to redeem my soul....", "Higher Ground.... I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day....", "Faith Is The Victory... O glorious victory that overcomes the world!", "He Leadeth Me... By His own hand He leadeth me...", "It Is Glory Just to Walk With Him... whose blood has ransomed me...", "I Love to Tell the Story... 'Twill be my theme in glory...", "I Am Thine, O Lord... draw me nearer...", "Count Your Blessings", "Trust and Obey", "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus... just to take Him at His Word...", "There Shall Be Showers of Blessing... mercy drops round us are falling...", "There Is Power in the Blood... in the precious blood of the Lamb!", "At Calvary... mercy there was great and grace was free...", "In The Garden... He walks with me and He talks with me...", "Springs Of Living Water... to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came...", "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul.... O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget....", "The Solid Rock... my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness!", "Softly and Tenderly.... Jesus is calling...", "My Jesus I Love Thee... ", "Near To The Heart of God...", "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus... look full in His wonderful face...", "Have Thine Own Way, Lord... Thou art the Potter, I am the clay...", "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms... what a joy divine!...", "Standing on the Promises", "Channels Only", "Take My Life and Let It Be... ever, only, all for Thee...", "Wonderful Words of Life... beautiful words, wonderful words...", "Open My Eyes, That I May See... glimpses of truth Thou hast for me...", "I Know Whom I Have Believed... and am persuaded that He is able...", "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing... tune my heart to sing Thy grace...", "He Keeps Me Singing... there's within my heart a melody...", "To God Be the Glory... great things He has done!...", "He Lives... you ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!", "It Is Well With My Soul... when sorrows like sea billows roll...", and of course, "Holy, Holy, Holy... Lord God Almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee", "How Great Thou Art... then sings my soul...", "Great Is Thy Faithfulness... morning by morning new mercies I see", and "Amazing Grace... how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!.." ~ a "few" favorites among many, many glorious hymns!! In fact, singing from the Hymn Book, is where I learned to read music! What a precious lesson!
[listen to: "It Is Well With My Soul" by Wintley Phipps; "How Great Thou Art" by Carrie Underwood; "Amazing Grace" by Charlotte Church -- links]

When I sing these hymns at home, now, I often find that my kitties

come running to me - it's as if they know the songs are praising

the Creator of Heaven and Earth! Let Heaven and Nature sing!

"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" ... as the hymn goes!

When I was in High School, my dad and I sang a duet in Church:

"It Took A Miracle".... to put the stars in place, it took a miracle to hang the world in space, but when He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole,

it took a miracle of love and grace!

My mom gave me an old hymn book, the one we used to sing from, in the church where I grew up. That is truly one of the most beloved books on my shelf! And as I was singing through some of the well loved hymns, I came upon this one, that really speaks to my heart:

"That Beautiful Name"

Take a moment to listen to: "You Are So Beautiful To Me" - by Joe Cocker - from my playlist... and simply meditate on how Beautiful our Lord Jesus is! "Lord, You're everything I hope for, You're everything I need, You are so beautiful to me!" Indeed.

For more Beautiful Music:

Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, Wonderful Words of Life

"Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed You out of the house of the LORD... Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever."

~ Psalm 118:26-29