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Protected: Remember to Remember Me

Protected: Solitary Solitude Rambles (Part 3)

Unstable as Water

In his youth, Robert Robinson was apprenticed to a barber in London and lived a wild and reckless life. But one day he heard a sermon by George Whitefield on the stern words of John the Baptist to the Jewish leaders of his day, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). The Spirit of God convicted the wayward young man and he put his faith in Christ.

Associated with the Wesleys for a time, Robinson served as a pastor in several churches. He wrote a number of works on theology, and two hymns that we know of, ‘Mighty God, While Angels Bless Thee, and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing’. The latter hymn begins:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

The song is autobiographical in its confession of a proneness to wander away from the Lord. Though a man of intellectual brilliance, Robert Robinson was, in the words of Scripture, “unstable as water” (Gen. 49:4). In his later years he drifted away from God. This weakness is reflected in a later stanza of the hymn above:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

In a spiritually backslidden condition, the author was traveling in a stage coach one day. His only companion was a young woman unknown to him. In the providence of God, and not realizing who it was she spoke with, the woman quoted Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, saying what an encouragement it had been to her. And try as he might, Robinson could not get her to change the subject.

Finally, he said, with tears in his eyes, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who composed that hymn, many years ago. And I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I then had! ”Gently, she replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.” He was deeply touched by that. As a result of the encounter he repented. His fellowship with the Lord was restored through the ministry of his own hymn, and a Christian’s willing witness.

Beautiful to Look Upon

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”
– Genesis 3:21

Does your apparel draw attention to themselves in the wrong way? Does it shout “SEX!” or “PRIDE!” or “MONEY!” or does it portray “purity,” “humility,” and “moderation?” ‘Look not for better within than you see without, for everyone seems better than [he] is; if the face be vanity, the heart is pride.’ Are we dressing for men or the Lord? Are we dressing to sensually attract others to ourselves? Apparel, believe it, ‘is often a sure window to the heart’s desires and inclinations.’

We are not made more handsome and beautiful by excess exposure of our bodies, but by modest moderation, pleasing to the Lord and respectful towards fellow man and oneself.

“…and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.”
– 2 Samuel 11:2.

Are you beautiful & handsome to look upon? You’re wise and know how to apply.

On Writing

Writing is hard because thinking clearly and precisely is not easy. I have never assumed, in all my written works, that I have made it as a writer, but I can safely inject that in all my writing and literary years I have nothing better to do than to write; so I willingly choose to suffer through my craft, by thinking hard and never settle to stay on the surface. A [critical and good] writer hears and sees the popular acceptance of the society and thereon ventures to examine the unpopular. In short, a writer is not a coward.

Here, read more of my PERSONAL MEDITATION on WRITING & on BOOKS & READING.

Are you looking for some good and worthy BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS? See my LIST here & here.

An Ugly Soul for a Beautiful Body

Young men and women, not the finest body, the sweetest face, the calming voice, the greatest state, [or] the largest portion, but the holiest heart, the richest soul, the beautifulest spirit, and the most virtuous man or woman. Chiefly fix your gaze on the soul, not the body. But alas, how quick in preference the latter before the former. ‘Do not marry a swine for a golden trough, or an ugly soul for a beautiful body.’

You’re wise and know how to apply.

Speaking

The secret of effective or successful speaking depends very largely upon our knowledge of the subject discussed and our interest in it. If we know but little about it and feel but little interest in it, we cannot hope to make much of an impression upon others. It is the man who has something to say in which he is himself interested that people care to hear, that will claim the attention of others. Interest alone, without knowledge, will not go very far.

The Greatest Work of God

God does his greatest work through the faithful preaching of the Word of God by the man of God to the glory of God alone. Let us go whence the word of God is faithfully preached and diligently expounded. Dear friend, if you’re not confident in the authority of the Scriptures or know it yourself, and let it master you, you will be a slave to what sounds right.

I marvel, at times, as I have listened to the kind of sermons that are preached, the subjects that are discussed, and even when the subject is all right, the manner in which it is handled, the little thought that has been given to it, the superficial manner in which it is handled, showing often no real true understanding of the thought which the passage which is being discussed is intended to convey. So, the people are starved; so, they are fed not on the finest of the wheat which they are entitled to, but upon the husk. And so, they are not nourished, are not built up, are not edified.

Here, read my Random Thoughts on Ministry & Preaching.

A Conceited Scholar

The knowledge of God makes us humble. We never are so low in our own eyes as when we see the most high God. The more we know of men that are more vain, and foolish, and wicked than ourselves, the more we are exalted and puffed up; but the more we know of God, of the great God, the incomprehensible God, the most holy God, to whom we are as nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing, the more we abase ourselves. To know God man must first accept and embrace his ignorance of God. ‘A conceited scholar is no good learner.’