For
now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but
then I shall know just as I also am known.
And
now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1
Corinthians 13:12-13
And
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God
is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself
will be with them as their God.
Revelation
21:3
Beyond
these chilling winds and gloomy skies, —
Beyond
death’s cloudy portal —
There
is a land where beauty never dies,
Where
love becomes immortal.
A
land whose light is never dimmed by shade,
Whose
fields are ever vernal,
Where
nothing beautiful can ever fade,
But
blooms for aye eternal.
The
city’s shining towers we may not see,
With
our dim earthly vision:
For
Death, the silent warder, keeps the key
That
opes these gates elysian.
But
sometimes, where adown the western sky
A
fiery sunset lingers,
Its
golden gates swing inward noiselessly,
Unlocked
by unseen fingers:
And
while they stand a moment half ajar,
Gleams
from the inner glory,
Stream
brightly through the azure vault afar,
And
half reveal the story.
O
land unknown ! O land of love divine !
Father,
all-wise, eternal,
Oh,
guide these wandering, way-worn feet of mine
Unto
those pastures vernal.
Heaven
NANCY
A.W. PRIEST
There
is an “eventide” in the year, -- a season, as we now witness, when the sun
withdraws his propitious light, when the winds arise, and the leaves fall, and
nature around us seems to sink into decay. It is said, in general, to be the
season of melancholy; and if by this word be meant that it is the time of
solemn and of serious thought, it is undoubtedly so; yet it is a melancholy so
soothing, so gentle in its approach, and so prophetic in its influence, that
they who have known it feel, as instinctively, that it is the doing of God, and
that the heart of man is not thus finely touched but to fine issues. When we go
out into the fields in the evening of the year, we regard, even in spite of
ourselves, the still but steady advances of time. A different voice approaches
us ... A few days ago, and the summer of the year was grateful, and every
element was filled with life, and the sun of heaven seemed to glory in his
ascendant. He is now enfeebled in
his power; the desert no more “blossoms like the rose;” the song of joy is no
more heard among the branches; and the earth is strewed with that foliage which
once bespoke the magnificence of summer…. Such also in a few years will be our
own condition…. If there were no other effects, my brethren, of such
appearances of nature upon our minds, they would still be valuable; they would
teach us humility, and with it they would teach us charity.
ARCHIBALD ALISON
Sermon
on Autumn
In
Heaven God will give Himself wholly to us, even as He is One and Undivided; yet
He will give Himself variously to the innumerable blessed ones around Him. And we shall give ourselves to Him in
like manner, for we shall see Him Face to face in all His Beauty, and love Him
Heart to heart.
F. DE SALES
Of the Love of God
~This Devotional is dedicated to Pastor Chuck Smith who has arrived to his true Home.
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