Through A Glass Darkly - by Martha Snell Nicholson

Through A Glass Darkly

There seems so little I can know

As on this darkened path I go.

The future looms, a fearsome thing,

Shapeless and dim. What it may bring

My spirit dares not contemplate.

Yet I, a child of God, may wait

Its coming with a lifted heart

And soul serene. My only part

To TRUST. I thank upon my knees

The wise and tender Lord who sees

My future clearly as my past,

And who will lead me home at last.

Martha Snell Nicholson

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On Flooding, John MacArthur, and Adultery

Taken July 6, 2025 from our front door. The rain that wouldn't stop.

Dear Friend,

July has been a strange month this year. So many things have happened that it feels like several months have passed in the last 19 days.

In the first 6-7 days of July we recorded over 16" of rain on our property, possibly 17". Most of this fell between the 4th and 7th. We had to deal with an evacuation order first thing on the 5th which was sent to us by mistake because our lower property touches a road that was flooding. Sadly, the people living down near the creek did suffer damages but, as far as I know, no lives were lost from our immediate neighborhood. The local stories we have heard dating back to the 1980s and 1950s floods made us believe that we were not in danger up where we are, but I was rattled when the order first came through. The reports from the Guadeloupe River and Kerr County had already been ramping up on the 4th and we were on high alert already. My husband did go down to check the creek waters twice - once in the middle of the night. Our street dead ends at a small river, and we weren't sure if something was going on down there. He went to check, but it was not threatening.

The rains kept coming back for days and days as the remnants of a tropical storm camped over this region. We would think we were past the worst and there would be another flood warning or flash flood warning. We were under "stay in place unless fleeing flood waters" orders more than once over a number of days. Even if we had needed to evacuate on the worst day, we would have been stuck because the bridge at the intersection out of our little road was flooded and not safe to drive through.

Continue Reading.

Evening Song - Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above

Psalm 30:11-12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. 

Psalm 104:33-34 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. 

Psalm 147:1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. 

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Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above

Sing praise to God who reigns ab­ove,

The God of all cre­ation,

The God of pow­er, the God of love,

The God of our sal­va­tion.

With heal­ing balm my soul is filled

And ev­ery faith­less mur­mur stilled:

To God all praise and glo­ry.

What God’s al­migh­ty pow­er hath made

His gra­cious mer­cy keepe­th,

By morn­ing glow or ev­en­ing shade

His watch­ful eye ne’er sleep­eth;

Within the king­dom of His might,

Lo! all is just and all is right:

To God all praise and glo­ry.

The Lord is nev­er far away,

But through all grief dis­tress­ing,

An ev­er pre­sent help and stay,

Our peace and joy and bless­ing.

As with a mo­ther’s ten­der hand,

God gent­ly leads the chos­en band:

To God all praise and glo­ry.

Thus, all my toil­some way along,

I sing aloud Thy prais­es,

That earth may hear the grate­ful song

My voice un­wea­ried rais­es.

Be joy­ful in the Lord, my heart,

Both soul and bo­dy bear your part:

To God all praise and glo­ry.

Let all who name Christ’s ho­ly name

Give God all praise and glo­ry;

Let all who own His pow­er pro­claim

Aloud the won­drous sto­ry!

Cast each false id­ol from its throne,

For Christ is Lord, and Christ alone:

To God all praise and glo­ry.

Johann J. Schutz

The Thousand Word Project - Little Lion

Snickerdoodle

Word of the Day - Palace

PA'LACE. n.s.  ...A royal house; an house eminently splendid.

- Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

1 Kings 16:18-19 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. [Somehow, it is interesting to me that the first mention of a palace in the Bible, as far as I could tell, is in the context of defeat and suicide. Palaces in history are not known for their pristine and lovely histories. They tend to have ugly stories attached to them. This is curious.]

1 Chronicles 29:1 Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

Esther 1:5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;

Psalm 45:8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,

And myrrh their texture fills;

Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine

With joy my being thrills.

Out of the ivory palaces,

Into a world of woe,

Only His great eternal love

Made my Savior go.

In garments glorious He will come,

To open wide the door;

And I shall enter my heav’nly home,

To dwell forevermore.

Henry Barraclough

Continue Reading.

Evening Song - In the Sweet By and By

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 

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The Thousand Word Project - Promise of Life

 

Short Thought - Don't Mistake God's Kindness for Weakness

A lot of bad behavior and wickedness gets overlooked in the name of the false "kindness" practiced by our present world. Because of this, there are people who have trouble understanding that God can be both kind and a righteous judge who will take vengeance on evil. They have mistaken kindness for weakness.

Jonah knew better. He knew that God would judge the sin of the unrepentant harshly, which is what he wanted for Nineveh. Because he also knew that God was kind, gracious and forgiving, he decided to try force God to judge the people he personally hated by refusing to give them the opportunity to repent. 

Jonah 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

God is long suffering. He is patient. He is kind. But, He is not weak. When the day of reckoning comes, He will judge with the absolute righteous standard that only He possesses. Romans 12:19b ...for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

That is a solid promise. He will repay.

Are you banking on God's kindness to you as weakness and thinking that He will ignore your sin and never hold you accountable? Is someone you love living this way? There is no "right time" to play fast and loose with the vengeance and justice of God. You may think He is weak because He is kind, but you couldn't be more mistaken. 

2 Corinthians 6:2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Don't imagine that because God has been kind to you this long that you can continue living in sin or rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation. God is not weak. He does not ignore sin. The day or reckoning is coming. This would be a very good day to confess and forsake your sin, or to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ if you are not already born again. Don't mistake His kindness for weakness.

Evening Song - My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Psalm 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. 

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The Thousand Word Project - Strawberry Parfait

 

Dianthus