Gospel Echos for the Home

 is the title of the blog  where I have posted the first in a series of articles on practical gospel living in the home. A number of years ago a friend of mine shared a few in this series with me.  I was captivated by the practical insights into both the Word of God, human nature and the affairs of daily living that this author brought out in her articles.  S.M.I Henry was a godly woman of deep christian character, moulded by providencial leadings in her life from a shy, invalid, into a confident evangelist of the truth in the mid to late 1800's.  Though a true poet at heart, she also wrote for the Methodist Church many stories and periodicals designed to keep younger feet from the paths of the destroyer, while raising three children alone after her husband died from illness following the Civil War. Recognizing the monster evils of the saloon, she with a handful of other concerned women launched the beginnings of the W.C.T.U (Women's Christian Temperance Union) of which she was the Evangelist. This is but a short description today.  I plan to add more details  in the future. Please visit  Gospel Echos for the Home  at: http://gospelechosforthehome.blogspot.com/

Learning Things

Seems I've been learning a few things about myself this week.  T'was kind of suprising.  Well since most of the last week and a half I've been tending the sick, making the meals, taking care of the pets needs, doing the hydotherapy treatments, on my own or so  it seemed, while Ron was at work. Sometimes I found myself struggling with keeping a cheerful attitude amid the added duties.  A couple of times I wasn't sure if I was coming down with the flu myself or just struggling to stay willing to keep tending my flock.  Besides drinking  lot's of tea and lemon water, taking a nap and not trying to over do,  I was learning to trust the Lord in more fully this week, eat simpler, with a emphasis on extra fresh things, lots grapefruit and cultured salads.  So far I'm hanging in there.  Then I read that quote I posted about New Strength Daily.  That really gave me a boost to think that the Lord is daily, hourly supplying me with new physical and mental strength.

Spent two Sabbaths at home and have rather have enjoyed two quiet days.  Went to the folks for Sabbath dinner, as Ron's sister with and a friend  of her's were here. Had a pleasant time and came home for  a quiet evening,to read some stories and.... well.... start laundry.

One of the blessings for me  on Sabbath was finding a way to share The Home articles that I have long been wanting to share. Think I will be periodicaly posting them on another blog.  So I'm off to launch that- hopefully today.  Watch for details later.

The Sabbath

By MRS. S. M. I. HENRY,

          (Sanitarium.)

WHEN the busy work of the week was done,

With the last faint glow of the setting sun,

The Sabbath stole softly into my room,

Her garments sweet with a strange perfume.

'T was the breath of Eden, before a leaf

Had fallen to hint that life was brief, —

Before the dews of that garden fair

Had woven a cloud for the light to wear.

In changeless calm on her quiet breast

Was folded Jehovah's perfect rest ;

And her hands were filled with gifts, to prove

truth of that Prince whose name .is Love.

A sweet old charm about, her clung,

Of the time when the days of earth were young,

Before their shadows had dreamed of fears,

Or ever their nights were wet with tears,

A something prophetic was in her face ;

And my chamber became a holy place

As she opened to me an ancient book,

And a wondrous truth from its casket took, —

A Word, with whose entering cometh light,

And a faith that far transcendeth sight, —

The answering of a thousand prayers,

And the peaceful ending to strifes and cares.

Blest day of days I thy deepest shades

Are shot with a light that never fades ;

Thou boldest in every briefest hour

The hiding of Great Jehovah's power.

And to thee is given the golden key

That unlocks the secret of things to be,

That keepeth the wealth of ages sure

For the children of light — the loving and pure.

RH Jan. 5, 1897  Vol. 74 No. 1

The Mother's Office

This is the third in a series of articles on The Home, that for many years I have treasured, and which has been a source of inspiration, encouragement and guidance for me as a mother. This is a trial run to see how this format comes out on a blog. I may start another blog just for the purpose of posting these.  I have long wanted to share these, but have only had microfiche printed hard copies. Would appreicate your comments .

ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD.

                                            JANUARY 19, 1897

                  THE MOTHEB'S OFFICE

                 By MRS. S. M. I. HENRY.

                               (Sanitarium.)

THE best result which I can wish to obtain from this article would be to bring to the discouraged mother, who has no heart in her work, such an understanding of the dignity of her office that she shall take on enthusiasm, as the old apple-trees take on bloom in May, and breathe out rejoicing like a sweet odor.

''What is motherhood that I should be glad in it ? "sighs some woman.'' It has brought me endless care and worry."

 Let us see, then, what it is; for worry is no necessary part of it, and should be wholly escaped. Motherhood is not simply the result of having borne a child; one may have borne many, and yet not have known one throb of genuine motherhood. One may have drained the bitterness of the curse to the dregs, and have missed entirely the sweetness of the blessing, because she has not taken her work from God, and done it in his name.

There can be no real motherhood without a practical Christian experience. It is by far more spiritual than physical. It is a Christian grace. It is the rich storehouse where the fruits of the Spirit are garnered for practical daily use. Motherhood is, in a broader sense than anything else, copartnership with God. It is that link in character by which God takes hold of humanity,— the one element of human nature which has passed the ordeal of the fall, and retained somewhat of its likeness to the original thought of God. It has made many a virgin aunt the sweetest mother of the whole family, and a few men have worn this rare blossom in their own hearts, and so proved themselves to hold a peculiar kinship to Christ.

Motherhood is God's chosen instrument for his best work in the world ; without it he could do nothing with men as they are, but with it he can do almost anything.

For a woman to have within her that which brings the memory of his mother to any man, is to hold one of the rarest gifts by which souls are won from sin ; for the thought of his mother is invariably the purest and truest in the memory of a profligate man, and nearest to his thoughts of God. It may be mixed with much that is neither true nor pure ; but as it reaches back to his own innocent days, it holds the sweetest that he can know, and is the fertile soil in which God would plant the seeds of truth. There would be

little hope of reformation for him if he had no reverence for this memory. In all the years of work among the very sinful, I have never found a man who would not respond to a judicious reference to his early days with his mother. The hardest thing I ever heard from any man about his mother was this: " I don't s'pose my mother 'mounted to much ; she ran off and left me when I was a little shaver, and I have been lonesome

allus." The most pathetic was from a  hardened criminal, whose mother was herself a criminal. He had come to appreciate how much this had to do with the "hard luck" of his life, but said : " I am sure we should both have been differ'nt if she could 'a had half a chance ; but she didn't know nothin', and I ain't blamin' her."

In the midst of every-day prosy duties, it is very difficult to appreciate how important is the office to which woman has been appointed,— its sacred character, its exalted dignity, as well as its corresponding responsibilities, which are so great that she could never bear them alone.

The third chapter of 1 Corinthians is especially the word of inspiration to mothers. The

pronoun "we" in the ninth verse ( " For we are laborers together with God ") means us. I would like to get a few drops of the honey of this consolation into the heart of the perplexed mother who reads this. It means something to be a laborer together with God. In the first place, God would never call us to this partnership, and then himself flinch from his share of responsibility. His share is to give strength for our need;  answer our calls for help; take anything which we have begun in his name, when we have done our best with it, and finish it. In this he will never fail us. To have done our part, to the best of our ability, means to have God finish the work for us.

 "What is my share? O, if I could but  know!" I hear some woman sob again, as one did years ago, while we talked together. Our share is summed up in one word, obedience, or willingness, which, in this case, means the same thing. Willingness to be taught of God, to take his word as it reads, to be controlled by it in all things, to be subject to the power of the Holy Spirit as he abides in that word, — willingness to acknowledge and correct an error in judgment or motive, before it passes into sin or bad example. Many a mother has failed at this point in dealing with her children. She has

taken a position thoughtlessly, and found it wrong, while the children, if she has taught

them well, knew that it was wrong as well as she did, but her pride rebelled against making confession to them, so it was allowed to stand,— a, wrong to herself, her children, and God. The result of her final decision in such a crisis is tremendous.

Holding to the error, for the sake of "dignity," she has lost the chance to lead her

flock beside the still waters, when to have sacrificed self and said, "I am wrong, but will not stay wrong; we must all do right together, at all hazards," would have been enthronement in the hearts of her children, and the planting of truth from which faith would have grown. Unbelief  grows from enthroned error ; from humbled truth, never.

Willingness means also ready trust in God. We must be willing to leave him to do his part, without jealous or fearful watching. One mother said to me, " I have no rest; I am growing ill; I lie awake nights, I am so burdened. I do not know what more I can do for my son. I am sure I have done the best I know, and yet he is going wrong." When it is true of any mother that she has done the best she can, she can safely pass her work over to her divine Partner, and be free from any sense of burden.

Even if she has the bitter knowledge that she has not done her best, there is yet a way for her to lay the responsibility off onto God ; and when God takes the responsibility, he knows where to lay it next. Confession of failure made frankly to her child, a clear setting forth of truth as seen in better light, a faithful testimony by obedience for the future, will relieve her of all necessary burden. To be conscious that one has done the

best she knew, as she was going along, with a willingness to correct errors at sight, ought in itself, to be an assurance that God has his hands on the work, and will see it through; this should make peace for any mother.

"But," says one, "how could I rest, even in God, and see my boy going wrong every day ? How can I help sadness and worry!" Ah, but one has not done her part yet, until she has dropped the whole case, with all the worry and anxiety, upon God.

A sad face is poor testimony to the power of salvation. To worry is to repudiate the promise, and brand it as worthless. And since it is by testimony given by what we are, and how we live, as well as by our words, that we are to honor God before our children as well as the world, so we cannot expect him to take our burdens upon himself until we have made that testimony complete. The complete testimony includes a peaceful face, well-kept person, a voice that breaks into song, and a sweet and winsome graciousness amid life's vexing cares, and is mighty in keeping at bay the snarling dogs of unbelief, that hound the steps of every boy and girl in this age of the world ; while an untidy dress, unkempt hair, a woebegone expression, and a peevish tone, suggestive of heart-break, will never awaken in them the desire to follow Christ. They will rather flee the wearisome spell of such evident unrest, and disbelieve the practical helpfulness of the gospel. Joy, not sorrow, is the factor which the problem calls for, without which we can never get the promised result.  If we substitute sorrow for joy, the responsibility of failure is ours, not God's.

A mother gives her child a piece of work to do, with all neccessary instructions. The child follows instructions faithfully, but the work is a botch. Upon whom but the mother does the responsibility of failure fall? But if the child deviates in any degree from instructions, the mother is free, and the child must bear the responsibility. So between us and our God in our mutual labor. Happy is that mother who so accepts her sacred office, so works the will of God in caring for body and soul, so perfectly trusts him, that she can say, with David, '' Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope." Ps. 119 : 49.

 I have before me the vision of such a mother. Through many years of her only son's profligacy, she carried in her face the peace of God. She looked her faith in the promise, until her boy was compelled to acknowledge that she was sustained by an arm that must be strong enough to hold him up, if he would but trust it as she did.

The God who could keep a drunkard's mother peaceful and quiet so long, could certainly save the drunkard, was the message which came to him at last. He was never afraid to send for her when trouble came through sin, for he knew her faith, and believed its testimony; and in his time of shame and disgrace, it was like a hiding place.

One day he telegraphed, "I am coming to Christ, if I can find him." She answered with a '' live wire," and followed in person as fast as she could. Later on, she had the great joy of hearing that son preach the everlasting gospel, and at last, of seeing him fall asleep in peace, after years of blessed service. ~

~ "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." Ps. 144:12 ~

New Strength Daily

This week while tending the sick ones in my home I read the following from the book "The Golden Oil" 
http://www.gospel-herald.com/golden%20oil/go_index.htm. Just when I was needing more strength for my tasks and to stay well.  The Lord is good!

"But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11.

"All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of Heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ they are complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence."—The Desire of Ages, page 827.

Snow, Flu..

Where did they both come from? They just snuck up on us.  Two of five of us still holding out.  This flu comes on with a scratchy throat for a day or so then hits with a cough, fever and aches all at once.  Lots of Country magazine reading, some studying, blog develpment and resting going on in our home.  O yes,by the way, the living room is trasformed into the sick lounge, it's warmer by the stove and a more social place to be and mom is the maid / nurse. But glad not to be sick.

Regardless of cold weather or illnes the promise of the Spirit's presence in our lives is paramount:

"But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11.

"Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church."—The Desire of Ages, p. 671.

"If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood ofJesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." 1Jn. 1:7

Sleep on Windy Nights……?

Well, some times.  With possible gusts up to 57 or so…hardly. That is, when it reaches near 60 mph the windows start singing or rather squealing.  Just when I think it is all done and am nearly  asleep again…… there it goes!!!!  The solution.. well…move to the other side of the house… and listen to two girls cough the night away…well it was some quieter over there.

But with wind and storm,  the internet is sketchy too.  So… no blogging… or shopping or reading online…yet.   So will have to wait to post this when the timing is right. For a brief minute when it was connected this morning, the search page had this quote from Martin Luther King Jr. 

“But let judgement run down as waters,

And righteousness as a mighty stream.”

Amos 5:24

Do people know this quote is originally from the prophet Amos, speaking of the Latter Rain?   Well I doubt it. They are simply quoting Martin Luther King for the holiday. 

However I ran across this text a week or so ago while going through a collection of texts I’m putting together for a song.   Usually  judgement is thought of in the context of doom confirmed, or vengeance carried out.  But this verse ties judgement to  righteousness.  Starkly, the only “righteousness” there is anywhere is Christ’s righteousness, always has been always will be, for “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses  are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and all our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”    But…

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:

my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.”

Job 29:14

“For he put on righteousness as a breastplate,

 and a helmet of salvation upon his head;

 and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,

 and was clad with zeal as a cloak.”

 Is. 59:17

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,

that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:

by whose stripes ye were healed.”

1Pet. 2:24

“And that ye put on the new man,

which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” 

Eph. 4:24

Christ’s righteousness—“the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ”—is the measuring line of the judgement.  If we are Christ’s, that is, we put on His righteousness always then we are ultimately his forever!  But if we fail to put on his righteousness, and ever and always persistently refuse to put it on, we ultimately fail of it… forever!

“Come buy gold refined by fire,

Garments whiter than snow,

Eyesalve for your eyes,

 that you may see,

That you may see your need”

(“The Return of the Latter Rain” p.472).

Books, books, more books!!!

Today we anticipated the arrival of boxes, and boxes of books. Wouldn't you know but just yesterday we had 6-10 inches of snow in various places including the drive way. But last night we had one of those chinook winds relatively common  in the winter here and viola! it all shrunk significantly!  So..... the way was open for the delivery truck.  The Lord is good and some times lets us see the amazing things he is doing on our behalf, other times we see only by faith. But the peeks into his providence strenghens us to walk with his hand holding ours even in the dark!
The way this book came about can be viewed here:  http://thereturnofthelatterrain.blogspot.com/

A friend shared with me about the book "The Golden Oil" by Dorthy Conklin, written on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It was out of print and has recenly been printed by Remnant Pub. but I found it  on line and began readin it.  (Love the ipod for catching a paragraph here and one there) Here's the link: http://www.gospel-herald.com/golden_oil/go_index.htm

May the Lord bless this humble effort and may those that read "run" with the truth as it is in Jesus for this time.

Fuzzy faced visitors

came last night. Woke about 1:30 and peeked out to see the stars but there were creatures too, and close to the house! Large ones grazing contentedly on our our lawn!! pawing away the snow to get to it.  They bedded down around the house until morning when the photographers eager persuit roused their caution and they made haste a short distance.  This herd of elk has been passing from field to field and now came our way. One of the calves who was half his mothers height was begging for a meal really had to bend down to reach it!!  Another calf had a broad, fuzzy blaze down his face - it was so cute.  So amazing to see them so close.   Cherish the joys of life posted the pictures from the night.

After a eventful town trip yesterday getting new tires which were to be put on the front of the van, but were promptly put on the rear and locating a full sized rim so we can now run a regular tire as a spare, today was a series of duties: studies, catching up on the dishes, bathing the "little dog" and cliping her much matted fur.  Then off to sled in the dark over the drifts and jumps. Alwasy feels good to get some much needed odds and end done, though seems to be more and more of them stacking up! Was good to get a picture posted and learn a few more odds and ends about blogging.  Have some kitchen office stuff to organized and get into a more user friendly state of affairs.

Time for worship and will need to retire earlier after watching those mid night visitors!