Word of God, Nourishment of Heaven

Greetings! I hope your Holy Week was full of light and life and hope! And Happy Resurrection Day to all who believe! Today in my daily Bible reading plan, I actually read the chapter in Isaiah for yesterday. Isaiah 58, one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. There is so much living hope in these words from the Father, from YHWH, given to His people at that time and in that historical context, and written and preserved forever for us and for all His people in ages to come. The Word of God, given for us. It reminds me of the time, many years ago now, my daughter sent a little birthday card to her toddler friend. Her mother told us she was so excited to receive it, that her little friend ate the card! What a hilarious memory (Ada, we love you!) But that’s such a perfect picture of what God wants us to do with His Word! He wants us to be so excited about receiving and hearing from Him in His revealed Word that we will want to be nourished by it, inhale it like oxygen, meditate and reflect on it and let it actually change us. When we ingest food, our bodies are transformed and affected by the very things we eat. Our lives can also be transformed in this way by feeding on His Word. If you are not in a daily rhythm of feeding on God’s Word, let me commend this reading plan to you for your benefit: Seeing Jesus Together You can even start today!

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

And the LORD will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in.

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

from doing your pleasure on my holy day,

and call the Sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the LORD honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

then you shall take delight in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 58

Gathering Gardens of Words ~ March

One of my blueberry bushes awakening to Spring.

The gate of Spring has lavishly swung open and welcomed us into its joyful cadence. I noticed the first clues last week on a walk as everywhere around me, burgeoning buds of green emerged from branches ever so cautiously. Cows arrived in fields, baby goats and sheep lay in pastures of sunshine, and birdsong was heard in bushes and trees as I meandered past. Of course, the familiar dog friends came running out to bark uproariously as we passed by quickly on the other side of the road. At home, I moved my outdoor plants back to their stations, hoping they survived the winter. Day by day, I gave a passing glance at the branches to see if anything was happening, and it was. Marvel reawakened in me as it does every Spring. You’d think after forty-six revolutions of the Earth around the sun, I would not be surprised anymore by the seasons changing, but each turning of the season brings a fresh delight to my soul. I hope that I will never lose that wonder, even when I am eighty years old.

We entered Holy Week at our church this past Sunday, led in worship by the younger members of our congregation, waving palm branches, the older kids guiding and carrying the younger ones during the first hymn. With pure joy, we were led into this most important of weeks in the Christian calendar, led by children and infants to worship the King. It was a fitting start to this week of joyful illuminating hope and celebration of the victory of our King over the sin and death of this dark world.

This month, I’ve gathered some words to share with you, some beautiful words that have watered my soul and nourished my thinking. I hope they bless anyone who is reading today, that these words point you to the Creator, the Savior, the Risen King, Jesus who sits this very day on His throne. May you know Him more deeply today than ever before.

Photo by Blake Verdoorn on Unsplash, Multnomah Falls, Oregon

“Joy being of God was a living thing, a fountain not a cistern, one of those divine things that are possessed only as they overflow and flow away, and not easily come by because it must break into human life through the hard crust of sin and contingency. Joy came now here, now there, was held and escaped.”

― Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean's Watch

The Good Shepherd, by I. Lilias Trotter

Beneath Thy Cross

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon--
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

-Christina Rossetti

Photo by Alexander Ramsey on Unsplash

“And Christ’s life indeed makes it manifest, terrifyingly manifest, what dreadful untruth it is to admire the truth instead of following it. When there is no danger, when there is a dead calm, when everything is favorable to our Christianity, then it is all too easy to confuse an admirer with a follower. And this can happen very quietly. The admirer can be under the delusion that the position he takes is the true one, when all he is doing is playing it safe. Give heed, therefore, to the call of discipleship!” - Søren Kierkegaard, Bread and Wine, Readings for Lent and Easter

Blossom in the Desert, I. Lilias Trotter

“Oh, that we may learn to die to all that is of self with this royal joyfulness that swallows up death in victory in God’s world around! He can make every step of the path full of the triumph of gladness that glows in the golden leaves. Glory be to His Name!”

― I. Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross

The Gathering Light of His Fire

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

My phone had been receiving notifications that a severe winter storm was on its way to our corner of the Northwest. The signs were obvious: below freezing temperatures, frozen water in a bucket at church in the furnace room, people’s pipes breaking, the gathering of firewood (and long-burning logs), defrosting the truck for twenty minutes in the mornings, pets hesitant to go outside, and charred dumpsters in the heart of the city, the remains of desperate attempts for heat by those without homes.

A few weeks ago, our heating system broke in our house, and we knew that a hefty repair was in our future. It was still mild enough outside that we just put a few logs in the fireplace and we were sufficiently warmed in the evenings, gathering in our family room “bear den”. But the temperatures soon grew more frigid outside and our house got extremely cold. Thankfully, a gas fireplace in the basement helped to keep temps between 58-61 degrees Fahrenheit.

We’ve been baking a lot and leaving the oven door open to cool and maximize our use of the heat produced, and enjoying the baked goods produced from the heat! We increased our creativity in gathering fuel to burn including our two crispy Christmas trees from the forest, old school workbooks, extra wooden shingles we found in a box in our shed (from the previous owner), and dried apple branches from our tree, besides the costly grocery store firewood. A friend dropped off several large tree stumps for our sons to chop, and we are well supplied to keep the home fires burning!

When the temperatures dropped this past weekend, and frost began to accumulate on the inside of our windows, we bought a couple more hot water bottles for sleeping, an electric heating pad, doubled up on socks, and began to wear our winter coats and scarves around the house. The new heating unit arrived on the first day of the winter storm and workers faithfully stayed all day until midnight working. Amidst the falling of snow, our home was being restored, and we are once again enjoying the gift of a warm home!

One thing I’ve noticed is that our whole family gathers in our little family room and kitchen where its the warmest, where they read, play video games, study for their final exams, drink tea (and coffee), and generally entertain each other with the tools of logic they have eloquently gained this past year!

I love listening to my dad’s stories of growing up on the dairy farm in southern British Columbia. There were some winters that were so cold, that in the night, they’d go to sleep in their upstairs room and set out a cup of water. Over night, it would freeze solid. But they stayed warm enough in their house and in the morning, their mom would start up the wood stove in the basement. There was a hole cut into the floor where the heat would rise from the basement to the main level of the house… alas, central heating! And everyone would gather around the heat and light, and there, life was enjoyed, stories were shared, prayers were prayed, and knowing my aunts and uncles I’m sure many songs were sung… together.

That’s what heat and light do, they gather us in to safety, to survival, to life. The light chases the darkness away. The heat repels the deathly cold. Heat and light invite us to live, and not in isolation, but together. This is what the Word of God does.

God’s Word is a light to our path to help us see Reality, what is real and true. God’s Word gathers people together to feed our sin-sick souls, to nourish and give us strength for the daily friction of living in a broken world. We have the opportunity and responsibility, as born-again Christians, to share God’s Word with others, to bring others to the feast of God’s Word, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, so that they too can gather with us around the life-giving warmth and light of Christ’s love, a fire that is never extinguished, but gives light and life to all who draw near.

I was reminded of this life-giving fire this past Sunday during the sermon. My husband is preaching through the book of the Acts of the Apostles. God came in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit sent from King Jesus ten days after Jesus ascended bodily into Heaven and sat down on His throne to rule the nations and remake the world. As His people scattered among many nations pilgrimaged and gathered at the temple for the Feast of Pentecost, a harvest feast, the Holy Spirit descended and came upon the people like little flames of fire.

The tongues of fire were symbolic of the temple sacrificial system, but instead of offering the required animals on the altar, God’s people were becoming “living sacrifices” set on fire by the Holy Spirit, and being purified by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. The people of God are now the living temple of His Spirit and we are the living sacrifices, but the provision and all the work is God’s work alone. And this is what people are drawn to, the light which comes not from us, but from God, the Creator and Giver of Light, the One who keeps the Light shining and the One to whom every knee will bow on earth and in Heaven. All nations will come to this Light and the world is being transformed by Jesus. He is the One who calls the City on a Hill into being and the light is going forth into all the world.

Light has a source and people are drawn to the source to gather and live. Jesus alone is the Light and those who come to him are filled with His Light to be reflectors of that Light which will transform the world.

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”

has shone in our hearts

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7

A Little Night Music in November - A Feast of Your Faithfulness

A photo I took while hiking in the Wenatchee National Forest this Fall on our church women’s retreat.

Good morning on this foggy November day. It has been a full month in our corner of the world. Frost clings to the grass in the morning as we wake up groggy-eyed and prepare for the day as we take glimpses out the window of the sun ascending behind dense clouds that blanket our valley. I am sneaking this little post into November before the month slips away into memory. I hope these songs lift your gaze to the one and only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the ancient Scriptures. If you have not read these ancient Scriptures yet, I invite you to read the entire book of the Old & New Testaments. Read with openness and curiosity. Read with the skill of understanding and exegesis. Read with a desire to wrestle with these words and wonder. Wonder why a small group of followers of this person from Nazareth turned into a worldwide movement that has lasted 2,023 years and covers the globe. Wonder about who this Person of history was, is, and will always be.

This month I’m sharing recordings by a wonderful singer songwriter. These recordings combine both her music and her testimony during a very difficult season of her life. God has given her new songs born out of suffering, light out of darkness, diamonds in the dust of despair, pain redeemed, a harvest of beauty, goodness, and truth.

When we share about our weaknesses and struggles in life and the goodness that Jesus has brought out of it, God is glorified. The fragile façade of our perceived goodness and strength mercifully crumbles out of sight. Refined in the furnace of Truth, we are given new eyes to see Christ for who He truly is.

Bethany Barnard released these songs in 2021. In 2022, she released a follow up album of brief explanations of these songs to give the listener more insight into her story. I hope you will be refreshed and encouraged from listening to her music, and through these tracks as she discusses her heart… “behind the songs.”

Bethany Barnard on Apple Music, Youtube, and bethanybarnard.com.

A Little Night Music in October - Belovedness

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:11

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:1-8

Photo by Nico Frey on Unsplash

When news of the world is too painful to read, when family members pass away, when broken lives rage and wickedness is rampant, I find comfort in worshipping the Lord. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace…” (by Helen Lemmel, inspired by missionary Lilas Trotter.)

I’m reminded of my 12th grade year, full of much sadness and confusion as a mental illness had slowly taken over my life. I continued to attend school as best I could manage and keep my grades up so I could graduate. I think it was during this year that the Lord gave me an image in my mind of a great white wing, His pinions of protection, and I was curled up peacefully and safely in His care. When confusion and fear swirled around me, I would go there in my mind to this place of safety.

The image comes from Psalm 91, which I had printed out and taped on the inside of my school locker years before. I carry this image with me in my heart and it comforts me even today.

He will cover you with his pinions,
 and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

Its in the refuge of His love that we can sing and praise and worship. Its under his wings where we can turn our eyes upon him and look full in His wonderful face.

The song I want to share this month is one that speaks of God’s great love which I believe with my whole heart. Whatever pain you have gone through in life, healing comes through worshipping Christ. You are beloved and you need to believe that.

I pray this song is a powerful testimony of God’s love for you, His beautiful creation of you in His image, and His fierce love to rescue you, to lay down his life for you, to stoop down, take your hand, and raise you up. It doesn’t matter if you are seen by the world when the eyes of Love are fixed on you, His beloved one.

“Its time to own your belovedness…”

Belovedness by Sarah Kroger, The London Sessions (Live)

I captured this photo in British Columbia recently, beauty in fall leaves, light, color, and shadows

Attending to Gratitude in Pages and Pathways

As I drove my kids to our little school this week, the smell of harvested apples permeated my senses, even with the truck windows shut to keep out the morning chill. Orchards must be in their final stages of apple picking right now. Its a common sight to see trucks heavily laden with full apple boxes being transported to the various warehouses in our fruit-bearing land. As we pass by the irrigation canals which wind through people’s backyards like quiet streams of life flowing on their journey from the top of Mt Rainier’s snow pack to our lake reservoir to water fields and backyard gardens, I notice the water level is going down. The irrigation season in what we call the upper valley is coming to an end and the canals will soon run dry once the water is officially shut off to this high desert. Homeowners will need to have their sprinkler systems blown out to remove all water from pipes before the first frost.

As the cold settles in, dew becomes a crunchy frost. It seems to me that the sweetest season in this valley is Fall, with apple, mint, and grape harvests to fragrance the air depending on which orchard, field, or vineyard one is traveling past.

This weekend, our family celebrates Canadian Thanksgiving with my folks and then in November, we will celebrate American Thanksgiving with a visit from them. I’ve designated this period of time as our Season of Gratitude, bookended with family visits. With a chalkboard marker, I wrote above my kitchen sink window “Season of Gratitude” as a gentle reminder to all of us in our home to be attentive to this season with grateful hearts, and it is a reminder to myself as well.

Some of the things I’m especially grateful for this October is the many books that I’ve been enjoying. Here is a little glimpse into some true and beautiful ideas I’ve been meditating and reflecting on in recent weeks:

The Confessions of St Augustine

In 2007, when my husband and I were visiting different Christian communities in Europe, I was inspired to study more of Church history, and a desire formed in me to discover the writings of early Christians after the time of the Apostles, generally called the Patristics, writings of the early Church Fathers, those directly mentored and discipled by the Apostles themselves. I got a copy of the shortest one I could find, On the Incarnation by Athanasius which I began to read but didn’t finish. Then for my birthday, several babies later, I asked my husband for a book on Tertullian, which I also didn’t get around to (it is a massive volume that awaits me on our bookshelf). Shortly after our fourth was born, I thought I’d read Augustine’s Confessions, the most popular of the Patristics. Again, it did not happen. However, this Fall, with my increased schedule of driving to and fro to transport my children to various school, musical, and sports activities, I’ve committed to listening to the audiobook of The Confessions. It is as others have said, so good. I will need to go back and read the actual paperback book of this tome as there are words, phrases, paragraphs I wish to highlight, underline, and mark up on the real pages of this book. For now, I am getting the general lay of the land with Augustine’s life and thoughts, and then I shall prepare for excavation another time.

A lovely visit with some mom friends for a morning cup of coffee at the cutest coffee shop in town, with stained glass windows, cozy chairs, and a quiet little book nook.

I’ve been organizing Moms Prayer Groups for about 6 years at the little classical and Christian schools we’ve been blessed to be part of. This morning, our prayer group got together for a cup of coffee and fellowship after prayer. Its a joy to make time for friendship.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, The Wingfeather Saga, Book 1

On our drives to school in the mornings, it’s nice to have a story to play for the fifteen minute drive. Occasionally, we listen to music, other times we are in a conversation, or there have been times when the eldest son has had us in stitches laughing at his very talented array of accents. But there are some mornings, I press play on the audiobook and all becomes quiet as we settle in for the drive into town and listen once again to this beloved story. I first read these books to our kids a few years ago at bedtime. I would position myself in the hallway between the bedrooms and read aloud this endearing and meaningful tale of the jewels of Anniera. This time, we are all listening to the adventures of Janner, Tink, & Leeli in the wee hours of the morning.

St Patrick: His Confession and Other Works & The Life of St Patrick and His Place in History

I have long been fascinated by Christianity in Scotland and Ireland, and love to learn more about early Christians in the years after the apostles. When living and working in Scotland years ago, I was introduced by a missionary friend to St Patrick’s Breastplate prayer in his “Confessio”. Reading works written by these ancient heroes of the faith, written in such intelligent prose and with depth of passion for the Lord Jesus, is both an education and an encouragement in the faith. Reading more about what we know of Patrick’s life and work is also incredibly inspiring.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom…

-Patrick, circa 377AD (The Lorica of St Patrick or St Patrick’s Breastplate or Faeth Fiada)

The Story of John G. Paton: Or 30 Years Among South Sea Cannibals

This is a book I’m reading aloud with my kids once a week. We are usually reading through a biography of a Christian in history. This year, we finished The Hiding Place, God’s Smuggler, and now we are slowly making our way through John Paton’s story as a missionary. Sharing these stories of lives laid down for the sake of the gospel inspire us to live our lives in His service.

I’m working my way through several other books when I have time and also listening to the audio of a seminary class from Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis, Missouri, called Ancient and Medieval Church History, another period of time I want to understand more deeply.

As I was growing up, my mom had an Irish prayer on a cloth hanging in the laundry room. It is a good reminder that the words you put on your walls for all to see send a message to those who live and take shelter there. Send messages of truth and hope in this life! They become treasures one holds on to. Below is that Irish blessing and a photo I took this week while walking with a friend in the canyon.

May you look for and find beauty on your pathway with the Lord.

Wintering, Watchfulness, and Unlikely Advent Companions

As the Winter Solstice approaches, the days are growing shorter. The light which used to rise in the northeast now rises over the Ahtanum Ridge southeast of our home. Instead of setting behind Mount Rainier, it now sets directly behind Mount Adams, another of our majestic volcanoes that dress the landscape of the Northwest. Our windows face this most beautiful of dramas that christens every morning with beauty and blesses every evening with its swift benediction.

The evenings of the Pacific Northwest are the darkest of the contiguous United States where the sun rises today at 7:38am and sets at 4:14pm. The days will continue to decrease in light until December 21st, the darkest day of the year, nicknamed “The Big Dark” where we will only have 8.5 hours of sunlight. And north of the border, where I come from, it is even slightly shorter. This is the season of wintering and watchfulness. As we prepare for the onset of winter and wait for the light to begin growing again, the natural world around us urges us on toward preparation, both in our dwellings and in our hearts.

After 8 inches of snow fell last weekend, I tromped across our yard to the chicken coop where our ten little hens live. Poor little things! For days, they did not come out of their coop, terrified as they were and certainly wondering, “What is all this scary white stuff falling from the sky?”. I changed their bedding of pine shavings, filled their feeder with pellets, brought fresh water, and collected their eggs. I also took a snow shovel and tried to clear a path for them so they could see the familiar ground and attempt to step outside their shelter into the crisp blue sky.

I’ve been able to be attentive to my heart in an intentional way this advent. I’m pondering many things and trying to be watchful to what the Lord is teaching me, even if it’s just to be still. Since summer 2020, I have been waking more often in the middle of the night and early in the morning. Early morning quiet time has become an anticipated part of my morning routine. I sit beside the Christmas tree, decorated by our young lady and three growing boys who are, one by one, beginning to tower above me. One day, I noticed two of the new little birds my mother got for our tree when she and my dad were visiting. It was like these birds were watching me: two little companions to join me on my advent journey this year. It made me laugh. They are quite unlikely though, specifically because they are not real, but also because I never planned for them to be sitting there, watching me. But this is where they were placed when we decorated the tree, and I love that they are there “watching”. I’ve always loved woodland creatures, real or stuffed, and so there they sit. They’ve become my advent companions on these dark early mornings as I sit and read Scripture and meditate on Advent poems and thoughts and try to practice being still while I wait for the light to come.

Another unlikely advent companion is a set of songs I loved so dearly when they first were released into the world in the summer of 1998. This was an unlikely advent addition as it is not a Christmas album. And yet, it is everything that Advent and Christmas is. This past November, I was listening to all the old Rich Mullins songs I had listened to on repeat as a teenager and early college student, simply because I was reminded of this singer songwriter.

In summer ‘98, I had been out of high school for 3 years already with a year of Bible school, experience working at a Christian daycare, and several classes from a local university college tucked into my portfolio of post-secondary adventures. I had just returned home from a mission trip to Argentina and was trying to figure out the direction the Lord wanted me to go. I was taking my sweet time and the Lord was too, but all, I believe, for a purpose. Jesus is never late. I sought the Lord for guidance, and I couldn’t shake the desire to go back to Bible College. It’s what I wanted more than anything. As I prepared to switch colleges and enter back into Bible and ministry training, I discovered a beautiful collection of songs by the late Rich Mullins called The Jesus Record. It became my anthem and driving music to inspire me as I drove around the town of my beginnings and settled into my new life at Bible college.

Rich Mullins had died several months prior to the recording and release of his last album. Musician friends and artists completed it for him. I believe it’s one of his most powerful works of music that he recorded. The A side of the cassette tape is his own demo versions of the songs with just a tape recorder, a piano and a guitar. These are some of my favorite versions. The B side is the more polished, finished renditions of this collection which I love equally.

Recently, I stumbled upon a new recording of Rich Mullins’ songs called The Bellsburg Sessions. This album is a recreation of some of his original songs released just this year, 25 years after his tragic death. The familiar lyrics of these vintage songs remind me of that definitive time in my life as I wandered through the early years of adulthood. As I’ve been enjoying these songs afresh, I’ve been reminded of one that has become an unlikely advent companion in my heart, the song, My Deliverer:

Joseph took his wife and her child and they went to Africa
To escape the rage of a deadly king
There along the banks of the Nile, Jesus listened to the song
That the captive children used to sing

They were singing
"My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by
My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by"

Through a dry and thirsty land, water from the Kenyon heights
Pours itself out of Lake Sangra's broken heart
There in the Sahara winds Jesus heard the whole world cry
For the healing that would flow from His own scars

The world was singing
"My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by
My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by”…

-Rich Mullins, The Jesus Record

This song is God-haunted, as it takes the listener to the banks of the Nile River in Egypt where the Hebrew slaves labored unceasingly under their oppressors, the Egyptian Regime in Old Testament times. These Hebrew children cried out for God to hear them, and He did.

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” Exodus 2:23-25

Jesus, knowing the history of his people, of his ancestors, knew the cries of His people for deliverance. They were awaiting a deliverer, a Messiah, the Promised Seed, and he was the one prophesied to come. He came as a baby, born to a virgin, an “in-flesh-ment” as Eugene Peterson once called it. He came for his people, and he came for all nations.

He came for me. And He will come again for us.

At the time of first hearing this song, the Lord gave me hope and reminded me, during many trials, that my Deliverer, Jesus Himself, was coming back and He would rescue me from all the struggles. He would deliver me and heal me. So when I listen to this song now, 25 years later, I am reminded of that beautiful gift of hope He gave me in this song and through His Word and by His Holy Spirit! We are awaiting our Lord’s second coming. Until he returns, we are in a perpetual season of Advent. No one knows the day or hour of his coming, not even Himself, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36). My Deliverer is coming, my Deliverer is standing by. When the Father gives the nod, the Son of God will come in all His glorious splendor, and He will bring the fullness of His Kingdom and His reign. Yes Lord, Come!

Winter in the orchards