II Corinthians 4:5-7
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
June 28th
"...I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3
...Until her eyes get opened.
THEN does "love" come to life when she has probed to its bitterest dregs the heart-rending illusions of our "Jericho," and – through the grace of His Spirit – has been permitted to SEE the depth-in-horror of the price He paid to purchase the TOTALITY of her "redemption," together with Glory Peaks-in-grandeur of which she never dreamt!
Tears of JOY flow!
Within awakes a melody, in unison athrob to the cadence of Heaven's Wedding March.
A SONG BURSTS FORTH…
Its JOY cannot be graphed in words.
Neither its PEACE and SWEETNESS voiced by human sound.
IT MUST BE EXPERIENCED…
Life becomes PROFOUND. The drab takes on color; the commonplace beauty!
Grief transforms to JOY…
A "star" has been born, even though its flame shall higher mount.
THIS is the mystic "BETROTHAL"!
ALL IS BEAUTIFUL!
ALL IS PURE; ALL IS SWEET.
THIS is the first contact with God's Spirit.
Beyond awaits the nuptial.
Its depths of joy and peaks of glory cannot by words be graphed: limp to the ground they fall.
Even terrestrial life itself becomes the resounding rhapsody to the celestial overture.
Life's orientation is reversed (though perhaps reversed is not the suitable word).
The psychological attitude to life becomes that of the enraptured bride.
It is no longer: What can I do to make more money? But rather, Does THIS add to my grooming unto BEAUTY in the sight of my Lord?
The detailed planning for a sharp deal is forgotten like the vapid comics of yesteryear; instead the sweet musing: What precious gem will my Lord this day press into my hand?
My Lord is the DOer; my God is the PROVIDER: I but the happy "helpmate," and beautiful vessel – to induce His reveries.
Am I spotlessly clean? Is my person a fragrance ascending before Him?
Do others behold the glory of Christ in Me?
Is what they see a lustrous gem for the adorning of His raiment?
WHAT is this thought running through my mind? Is it of my Lord and to His praise? Are its color tones a work of art before Thee? If not (I whisper): "My Beautiful One, it is but Thee I love. Banish far from me Intruders – who crave a part of me (yet all of me is Thine). DEEPER within my being enter, my Precious, to fill this `temple' with your Glory - that I all beautiful may be."
The consciousness of SELF undergoes a radical change: self ceases from its previous vaunting (the maiden has lost her name); NOW, it is the Lord Who leads, and Whose alone the praise we seek. (This should be taken either way: to seek only that which is to His praise, as well as to MERIT His praise.)
"A NEW name" has been received: the fullness of That Name becomes our mania to express.
It is no longer "ME and mine," but "I am THINE, and for YOUR pleasure is my life."
Discourses #7