Burn my soul, dear God above, that all dross this day may banished be. I offer here myself a sacrifice, blinded by the blemish that I have become. The sin which so easily entangles has done well its work in me, until from the depths I cry unto Thee, knowing full well that Thine is the only hand that can make me clean. Yet lingers a fear, a shame that downcasts my soul - have I the faith to touch Thy hem as a woman years ago had done? This is the fire of which I speak: a cleansing flame by Spirit driven that returns me to the dust from which I came. But in my dying I am raised, for spotless Christ proclaims, "She is in Me and I in her - My blood has made us one". The fragrance now raised before the Throne is that of mingled flesh, as all sin, shame and spot are burned. My Husband has once again presented a spotless Bride to Thee.
Oh would that it did end there! But you, my whoring soul, are so like Israel, that day after after day this same must be done. How great is my desire to be true, faithful, and pure and yet how great my shame as once again you find me selling my soul to another. How well Thou knowest Hosea's grief! I beg, therefore, that through judgement and patience Thou would teach me to be a Wife. I seek to be not a daughter of Eve but a daughter of Mary. Through the power of Christ, may the incense of this handmaiden's faithful prayers be greater than the fragrance of my sacrificed sins. And in this may I be a pleasing aroma, the Fragrance of Christ to Thee.
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Enough of this silence! It all started with reading the October 19th daily bread about the benefits of a “gratitude visit” proposed by Dr. Martin EP Segilman to promote strong emotional health. He tells people to think of someone who have made an important difference in their lives and he “asks them to write a story of how that person has helped them………” The answer to why I am writing this may be in the question how is it that with me it is now a priority to communicate this?
Moving right along, on that very same day (10/19) Oswald Chambers writes(sometime between 1911 -1915) in his My Utmost for the Highest” , “The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. This emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….” And Chambers cites Luke 17:20-21 which in itself may be a controversial interpretation in my New American Standard. Well what is the point? Oswald says, “The central point of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not personal usefulness to others. And as I re read this I have to say to myself (totally infected by the world), a little balance is in order here. Some of my practical ways makes it possible for the family to eat. On the other had I have spent so much time in the practical side that I can’t recognize or even relate to someone writing a poem or prayer to God with the mission in mind of inching a bit closer to him and maybe helping someone like me do the same. I think I have a lot of company. And I cite the experience you are having with achieving response with your recent October 5th entry. Write about something practical and bam! Hook line and sinker. Just like fly fishing with one of Jerry Allen’s sexy wooly buggers. Bless his heart, he needs a big hug. Put something in there that touches us in a personal way, which is where Jesus wants us and the theme music to “Operation Mars” comes to mind and the devil whispers, careful, don’t touch this. Keep it up, Nicole. You are doing well with your bloggings. 4str_phil
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