Sanctuary light

If you grew up in (or still worship in) a sacramental church, you may remember the sanctuary light, a candle lit to represent God’s Presence in the church. This morning I was reading from my Tozer devotional a reminder that we are God’s sanctuary,  and as such our hearts should be a pure and holy place for Him to dwell:   Build that invisible altar from within. Let the spirit of God produce the living, cleansing flame that marks your devotion to Christ, our Lord.

A wisp of a prayer from the recesses of my memory surfaced from the evening service called Vespers,  a sunset service of evening prayer. In fact, long ago bells in towns used to ring six times per day to call people to pray throughout the day. (You can read more about the Book of Hours or Prayers of the Hours, if you’re interested.  Or you might enjoy Davis Bunn’s fiction book, The Book of Hours, which includes some of this history.) Perhaps we might all benefit from reminders throughout the day to stop for a few moments and connect with our Heavenly Father. To put our current activities, responsibilities, and concerns into perspective. To stop, look up from our work, give Him a smile and let Him know how grateful we are. To affirm that our hearts are still devoted to Him.

Vespers is still practiced by many throughout the world. O Gracious Light is an ancient prayer from that service: O Gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in Heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now, as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing Your praises, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of Life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.


Remember the phrase, she’s carrying a torch for him (or vice versa)? The image evoked a flame in one’s heart which has continued to burn, despite the circumstances which might have easily snuffed it out. ADONAI’s flame of love for us never goes out, and neither should ours for Him. Is our heart cleansed so that His Presence can burn a sanctuary light within us? Do we carry His torch, which burns faithfully and ceaselessly throughout our days on this earth?

Some of us are in our sunset years. Do we carry the Vesper light? Or have we allowed it to dim through the challenges, disappointments, or weariness of life?  Have we become weary of fighting the good fight of the faith? If so, we need to devote more time to the One Who first lit that flame and can cause it to burn brightly. It should emit such a deep glow from within that it warms the cold hearts of others around us.  They should be drawn to its warmth and light. And we, ourselves, should be acolytes dedicated to its tending.

Moving in tandem

Sometimes the trees here in Vernonia are very still, waiting for the breeze to come and stir them. They never move of their own volition. In fact, it seems sometimes as if all of creation within my purview is holding its breath, listening and waiting  for the wind of His coming.

At this moment, one lone, tiny leaf has adhered itself to my shirt, and God immediately prompted me to remember, in the same way, to wait and ride along attached to Him. I sometimes picture myself riding on His sandal...or in the pocket of His robe...or on His shoulder, peeking out from under His hair. That way, when He moves, I move with Him. I don’t have to worry about waking up from the distractions of either busyness or a dreamlike inertia, only to see that He has moved forward and only His back is visible in the distance.

When you were small, did you ever attach yourself to a parent’s leg so that he or she had to walk stiff-legged in order to move across the room? It might have irritated your parents, or it might have made them laugh. Or you might have had a parent whom you’d never dare approach in such a way. Your Heavenly Father , however will always be laughing. He loves to have you seek ways to stay connected to Him. To move when He’s ready to move. To rustle and sway in the Wind of His Spirit. Or, He might just stand still, look down tenderly upon you, and swing you up into His arms. You can hear His laughter even better from up there.

Distillation

So many of you, my readers, minister to others in a variety of ways.  Some of you are in a position of direct teaching or preaching; some lead Bible studies, counsel, mentor, disciple, pray for inner and outer healing, or even take people into their homes.  Whatever ministry(ies) God has called you to, there is an instructive word He spoke out to me this morning:  distillation.

When God shows us something, it’s often over the course of time or experience...or in the context of other thoughts or messages.  When He calls us to share the heart of the message with others, the heart of it sometimes gets lost in our own convoluted thoughts. We want to tell the whole detailed story of the trails we followed and our stops along the way.  We want to share the whole, big picture, but instead, the burning truth of it gets buried, or even diluted in the extraneous.

This morning I was given a picture of both dilution (a watering down) and distillation, which produces the dripping concentrate. Despite all the thoughts and progressions which eventually produced the rich liquid we are to share, let’s not feel the need to take other people through the rabbit holes and circuitous travels of our minds which landed us there.  A friend once called it a ‘tightly wound’ message which people will remember and take to heart.  To switch analogies, one golden nugget to hold and turn over in one’s hand can be worth a wheelbarrow of unmined rock.

The Holy Spirit will take others on their own, mindful  journeys. Let’s joyfully share our most recent God-given teaching or insight via only its critical milestones, extending in our hands the nutrient-rich distillation for others to drink.

Musical transformations

As much as I love contemporary worship songs, I also still love many of the old hymns.  My only issue with them is that they were often written about God rather than to Him.  One of my favorites (I confess I have a lot of ‘favorites’) is Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, based on Psalm 103, and written by Henry Francis Lyte in 1834. This morning I turned the lyrics into the first person, which immediately ramped up the level of intimacy. The lyrics in various hymnals sometimes vary slightly, but using the version I learned as a child, here’s my personalized adaptation.  Try it yourself, if you know the tune...or just speak the lyrics as a prayer.

I praise You, Lord, the King of Heaven
To Your feet my tribute bring
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven
Evermore Your Praise I Sing
Alleluia, Alelluia, I praise You, my everlasting King

I praise You for Your grace and favor
To Your people in distress
I praise You still the same as ever
Slow to chide and swift to bless
Alleluia, Alleluia, glorious in Your faithfulness 

Fatherlike, You tend and spare us
Well our feeble frame You know
In Your hands You gently bear us
Rescue us from all our foes
Alleluia, Alleluia, widely yet Your mercy flows



Angels help us to adore You
They behold You face to face
Sun and moon bow down before You
Dwellers all in time and space
Alleluia, Alleluia, we praise You, Lord, the God of grace

Sometimes I find myself singing or humming secular songs whose lyrics are untrue, misleading, or deceptive.  So through the years, I’ve made my own versions.  For example, we used to live near the port in Cape Canaveral, from which the cruise ships departed.  Multiple times per week I’d hear “When You Wish  Upon a Star” emanating from the Disney ships. The tune got stuck in my head, and I ended up hollering to myself, “Why are you singing that song?!!!”  So I created this one. Go ahead and sing along:

When you pray to God above
You will meet a heart of love
When you pray to God above He’ll answer you

If your heart is in your prayers
You will  never need despair
When you pray to God above He’ll answer you

God is kind; He brings to those who love [Him]
The fulfillment of their deepest longings 

When you prayer to God above
You will meet a heart of love

When you pray to God above He’ll answer you

I also sing secular love songs to the Lord. Sometimes they don’t even need much adaptation. Like
Unforgettable or The Very Thought of You or, I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You... . See how many you can find and share them in the comments section for this post.

Julie