“He’s on the Upper Road”

I’m going by the upper road, for that still holds the sun,
I’m climbing through night’s pastures where the starry rivers run:
If you should think to seek me in my old dark abode,
You’ll find this writing on the door, “He’s on the Upper Road.”

from Streams in the Desert

“…A Performance of Those Things”

A total arch of a rainbow is an awesome performance but when there are TWO, well there are no words to explain nature’s translucent beauty.  We were at Alatau sanatorium this past weekend and after a rain on Friday night, I was able to capture a fourth of the beauty on my camera!  It seems to go with this poem from Streams in the Desert about the original function of rainbows was God’s promise to NOT flood the earth again.

There shall be a performance of those things
That loving heart hath waited long to see;
Those words shall be fulfilled to which she clings,
Because her God hath promised faithfully;
And, knowing Him, she ne’er can doubt His Word;
“He speaks and it is done.” The mighty Lord!

There shall be a performance of those things,
O burdened heart, rest ever in His care;
In quietness beneath His shadowing wings
Await the answer to thy longing prayer.
When thou hast “cast thy care,” the heart then sings,
There shall be a performance of those things.

There shall be a performance of those things,
O tired heart, believe and wait and pray;
At eventide the peaceful vesper rings,
Though cloud and rain an dstorm have filled the day.
Faith pierces through the mist of doubt that bars
The coming night sometimes, and finds the stars.

There shall be a performance of those things,
O trusting heart, the Lord to thee hath told;
Let Faith and Hope arise, and plume their wings,
And soar towards the sunrise clouds of gold;
The portals of the rosy dawn swing wide,
Revealing joys the darkening night did hide.

by Bessie Porter

“…His Mountains Bleak and Bare”

“God hath His mountains bleak and bare,
Where He doth bid us rest awhile;
Crags where we breathe a purer air,
Lone peaks that catch the day’s first smile.

God hath His deserts broad and brown–
A solitude–a sea of sand,
Where He doth let heaven’s curtain down,
Unknit by His Almighty hand.”

“Challenge Thy Mountain”

Living in Almaty, Kazakhstan to the north of the mountains that border Kyrgyzstan we have the everyday occasion to see the beauty of the mountains every day.  I am challenged by them and I know others have taken on the challenge of conquering them by crossing over to Kyrgyzstan.  Here is a challenge issued in Streams in the Desert:

Say to this mountain, “Go,
Be cast into the sea;”
And doubt not in thine heart
That it shall be to thee.
It shall be done, doubt not His Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!

Claim thy redemption right,
Purchased by precious blood;
The Trinity unite
To make it true and good.
It shall be done, obey the Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!

Self, sickness, sorrow, sin,
The Lord did meet that day
On His beloved One,
And thou art “loosed away.”
It has been done, rest on His Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!

Compass the forwning wall
With silent prayer, then raise–
Before its ramparts fall–
The victor’s shout of praise.
It shall be done, faith rests assured,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!

The two-leaved gates of brass,
The bars of iron yield,
To let the faithful pass,
Conquerors in every field.
It shall be done, the foe ignored,
Challenge thy mountains in the Lord!

Take then the faith of God,
Free from the taint of doubt;
The miracle-working rod
That casts all reasoning out.
It shall be done, stand on the Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!

Kazakhstan is your place

Just where you stand in the conflict,
There is your place.
Just where you think you are useless,
Hide not your face.
God placed you there for a purpose,
Whate’ever it be;
Think He has chosen you for it;
Work loyally.
Gird on your armor! Be faithful
At toil or rest!
Whate’er it be, never doubting
God’s way is best.
Out in the fight or on picket,
Stand firm and true;
This is the work which your Master
Gives you to do.

 

Early a.m. rain “standing” in mountains

I took this photo the other day, our mountain view seems to be different every day just depending on the time and season. Today is the FIRST day of summer, but you wouldn’t know it since we have had hot, summery days for the last couple of months.  The following poem is selected from Streams in the Desert.

“STAND STILL,” my soul, for so thy Lord commands:
E’en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands;
His arm is mighty to divide the wave.
“Stand still,” my soul, “Stand still” and thou shalt see
How God can work the “impossible” for thee,
For with a great deliverance He doth save.

Be not impatient, but in stillness stand,
Even when compassed ’round on every hand,
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend.
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still,
That He may work in thee His blessed will,
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.

“BE STILL,” my soul, for just as thou art still,
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow;
In stillness God can work through thee and reach
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.

“BE STILL”–a deeper step in faith and rest.
“Be still and know” thy Father knoweth best
The way to lead His child to that fair land,
A “summer” land, where quiet waters flow;
Where longing souls are satisfied, and “know
Their God,” and praise for all that He has planned.

“Be Still! Just now be still!”

“Be still! Just now be still!
Something thy soul hath never heard,
Something unknown to any song of bird,
Something unkonwn to any wind, or wave, or star,
A message from the Fatherland afar,
That with sweet joy the homesick soul shall thrill,
Cometh to thee if thou canst but be still.

Be still! Just now be still!
There comes a presence very mild and sweet;
White are the sandals of His noiseless feet.
It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent
To teach thee what the words He uttered meant.
The willing, waiting spirit, He doth fill.
If thou would’st hear His message,
Dear soul, be still!”

 

Songs Across the Storm

“A harp stood in the moveless air,
Where showers of sunshine washed a thousand fragrant blooms;
A traveler bowed with loads of care
Essayed from morning till the dusk of evening glooms
To thrum sweet sounds from the songless strings;
The pilgrim strives in vain with each unanswering chord,
Until the tempest’s thunder sings,
And, moving on the storm, the fingers of the Lord
A wondrous melody awakes;
And though the battling winds their soldier deeds perform,
Their trumpet-sound brave music makes
While God’s assuring voice sings love across the storm.”

“It Isn’t Raining Rain for Me”

Yesterday we took an excursion with my friend Yelena to Big Almaty Lake, it was overcast and once to the top, it started to rain.  That helped to keep the dusty roads dampened down once we made our jolting ride back to civilization.  The flowers I picked were familiar like forget-me-nots and a kind of sweet pea, the others were not. 

“It isn’t raining rain for me, it’s raining daffodils;
In every dimpling drop I see wild flowers upon the hills.
A cloud of gray engulfs the day, and overwhelms the town;
It isn’t raining rain for me: it’s raining roses down.”

 

“All things are possible…”

A quote from Charles H. Spurgeon fits how we are surviving and what we are doing in Kazakhstan:

“Oh, then, Christian, watch well thy faith.  ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’”

Another quote about faith is from Dan Crawford:

“We boast of being so practical a people that we want to have a surer thing than faith. But did not Paul say that the promise was by FAITH that it might be SURE?” (Romans 4:16)

Faith honors God; God honors faith.