Sunday Hymn: No, Not One!

There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!
None else could heal all our soul’s diseases,
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain

Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

No friend like Him is so high and holy,
No, not one! No, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly,
No, not one! No, not one!

There’s not an hour that He is not near us,
No, not one! No, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us,
No, not one! No, not one!

Did ever saint find this friend forsake him?
No, not one! No, not one!
Or sinner find that He would not take him?
No, not one! No, not one!

Was ever a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! No, not one!
Will He refuse us a home in Heaven?
No, not one! No, not one!

—Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Update: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded at Hopeful Morning
• Fairest Lord Jesus at Rosemary at Home
• Something Heavenly at Gospel Grace
• I Stand Amazed in the Presence at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 41 at Tried With Fire 
• Lord’s Day 41, 2012 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Faith Alone - October 7, 2012 at The Upward Call
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: “It’s All for the Best!”
• A Sunday Psalm: The Treasury of David - Psalm 9:11 at Theology for Girls

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

By the Word of His Power

Today was my day to post  at Out of the Ordinary, and I posted on a few words I love from Hebrews 1, “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Christ and his creation are not like a watchmaker and his watch. A watchmaker assembles a watch, winds it up, and lets it run. There is no “letting it run” with Christ; He keeps the universe moving along by his own power. What’s here is here because he made it, and it keeps on working because he continues to make it work.

But the difference between Christ and the watchmaker is even greater than this. Leon Morris says the thought in Hebrews 1:3 is that Christ 

is carrying [the universe] along, bearing it toward an important goal. Creation is not aimless; it is part of God’s plan and the Son is continually bearing creation along toward the fulfillment of the plan.1

A watchmaker winds his watch and lets it run until it winds down. The watch fulfills its purpose best at the very beginning if its existence when it is new and freshly wound. Someday, inevitably, it will wind down and stop forever, never to fulfill its true purpose again. Not so with creation. Creation is forever fulfilling it’s purpose perfectly because it is being moved toward its ultimate aim by the One who made it.

Read the whole post.

I plan to be back later with this week’s post on The Discipline of Grace.

Thankful Thursday

Today, in anticipation of Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, I’m thanking my heavenly Father for 

• my full life, more busy and more full than I could have predicted just a few years ago.
• garden produce picked, cleaned and stored.
• a full fridge and a full pantry.
• unbelievably beautiful fall weather.
• my yard, full of fallen leaves.
• my home, full of family memories and ready for more to be made.
• more books than I can read.
• a warm and comfy bed.
• family nearby.
• opportunites and time to serve.
• the Father who sent.
• the Savior who came and died.
• the Spirit who gives life.

All these good gifts, and more, come from my good God, and I am thankful for his generous provision for me.