Hosanna!

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” {Zech. 9:9 HCB}.

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’{Jn. 12:12-15 ESV}.

Rejoice, the Lord is King: Your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns, The God of truth and love;
When He has purged our stains, He took his seat above;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o'er earth and heaven;
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord and judge shall come
And take His servants up to their eternal home:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Charles Wesley

Sabbath Sanctuary: Jesus, Lover Of My Soul

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him {1 John 3:1 NASB}.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him {1 John 3:1 NASB}.

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high; hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past; safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last! 

Other refuge have I none; hangs my helpless soul on thee; leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed, all my help from thee I bring; cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing. 

Plenteous grace with thee is found, grace to cover all my sin; let the healing streams abound;
make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art; freely let me take of thee; spring thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity. 

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

Charles Wesley, was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, the greatest hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, staying with his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepened, and he became one of the first band of “Oxford Methodists.” He wrote this hymn in 1740.

Sabbath Sanctuary: O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (18 Original Stanzas)

This hymn was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 to commemorate his conversion on May 21, 1738. It was first published in the Wesleys' collection Hymns and Sacred Poems of 1740 under the title, For the Anniversary Day of One's Conversion.

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen {Lk. 19:37 NASB}.

Glory to God, and praise and love be ever, ever given, by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun of Righteousness arose; on my benighted soul he shone and filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife, ‘twas then I ceased to grieve; my second, real, living life I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed, believed with faith divine, power with the Holy Ghost received to call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood close to my soul applied; me, me he loved, the Son of God, for me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true, ascertained of my part, my pardon passed in heaven I knew when written on my heart.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my dear Redeemer’s praise! The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace.

My gracious Master and my God assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy Name. 

Jesus! the Name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease; ‘tis music in the sinner’s ears, ‘tis life, and health, and peace!

He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and listening to His voice new life the dead receive; the mournful, broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf, His praise, ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ; ye blind, behold your Savior come, and leap, ye lame, for joy.

Look unto Him, ye nations, own your God, ye fallen race! Look, and be saved through faith alone, be justified by grace!

See all your sins on Jesus laid; the Lamb of God was slain, His soul was once an offering made for every soul of man.

Harlots and publicans and thieves, in holy triumph join! Saved is the sinner that believes from crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew, ye sons of lust and pride, believe the Savior died for you; for me the Savior died.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep, and Christ shall give you light; cast all your sins into the deep and wash the Ethiop white.

With me, your chief, you then shall know, shall feel your sins forgiven; anticipate your heaven below and own that love is heaven.

Charles Wesley {1739}

Advent Journal Day VII: Awake And Alive And Full of Hope

Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.

Psalm 130 A Song of Ascents.

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities (Psalm 130: 1-8 NASB).

Again, a Psalm of Ascent sung by those going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of the Lord. Those pilgrims were alive with joy and hope in the God of Israel; we have the same hope—we too should be alive in joy in celebrating the season. In my daily creating of a thanksgiving theology, I seek to be more awake and alive to Him and His presence. I am not awake or alert enough to Him. Christ warns us to not sleep concerning His coming:

Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming (Matt. 24:42 NASB).

I am also moved by an older wiser sister in the faith:

“Contemplating Jesus Second Coming stirs me to watchfulness. His parables warn against the dangers of a spiritually sluggish life (see Matthew 25; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48). Watching is more than staying awake; it is anticipation and faithfulness. The One my soul loves may come today to gather me to himself. That hope motivates me to be ready, vigilant and diligent, prepared. I must cultivate a watchful spirit.”[1]

I don’t want to just know that Jesus is coming; I want to be awake and alive and about His business so that when He comes, He will find me faithful. I have a lot of work to do.

I need to test my heart and see how awake and alive I am for Christ. It is one thing to celebrate His arrival over two-thousand years ago; it is another to worship Him all year long. How do I cultivate a thanksgiving theology, throughout the year? How can I cultivate a grateful heart three-hundred-sixty-five days—not only for certain celebrations? I asked my heart a few questions; maybe you can too:

Do my eyes fill with tears and my heart with love when I recount how Christ revealed Himself to me and saved me from the miry pit of sin I was drowning in—do I share that story with others? Am I overwhelmed with love and awe as I remember that He is God incarnate, that He died and raised up again into New Life for me? Am I filled with wonder when I hear the voice of God speak to me from the pages of the Holy Writ and into my heart? Am I undone like the woman with the alabaster box at His Love, Grace, and Mercy as He lovingly accepts my worship—the lowly sinner? Am I ready if He knocks on my door today?

As we come to the end of the first week of Advent—igniting our hope in the Lord and in His coming, and enter into the second week of preparation, reflect on the above questions. Are you awake and alive? Ignite your hope in the Lord and look for His coming; the Advent we celebrate now and the one we look forward to. We have the same hope in Christ's Second coming, where He will interrupt our chronos with a glorious kairos. Angels pronounced His birth at the first advent and the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God (see 1 Thess. 4:16) at the second. Rest in the Hope of His coming; the Hope that He came once and the Hope that He will come again. Prepare for His coming and be ready.

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne. 

Charles Wesley

To read the entire Advent Journal click here: 

 Advent Journal: A Theology of Thanksgiving

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[1] Jean Fleming, Pursue The Intentional Life (Carol Stream, IL: NavPress, 2013), 147.

Sabbath Sanctuary: Prepare and Hope

This is the first Sunday in Advent; the genesis of preparing for the coming King.

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.  You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this (Is. 9: 1-7).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. And the Word became flesh, and ^[k]dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:1-4; 10, 14).

When we truly prepare for the coming of Christ, He fills us with Hope. The Messiah was the hope of Israel; and He silently crept into our chronos in the quiet of the night, in humble surroundings of a stable; The beauty of the incarnation.

We too, have the same Hope with Christ's Second coming, where He will interrupt our chronos with a glorious Kairos. Angels pronounced His birth at the first advent and the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God (see 1 Thess. 4:16).

Rest this Sabbath in the Hope of His coming; the Hope that He came once and the Hope that He will come again. Prepare for His coming and be ready.

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne. 

Charles Wesley

My Scribbling....

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Westbow Press

Google Play