The Beauty of Late Bloomers

Michael E. Wood

July 29, 2013

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.   Philippians 1:12-13

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.  Psalms 92: 12-15 (Emphasis mine)

In September 2011, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for the gospel at Atria El Camino Gardens in Carmichael, California.  During that first month, Dianna and I sat in to observe a Thursday night Bible study being conducted by a former member of a church which had been meeting at the facility.  The number of residents faithfully attending the meeting had dwindled to two.

Lucy, while suffering with Parkinson’s disease, attended our Sunday afternoon worship services regularly while at Atria until her condition debilitated to the point in which she had to move to another facility. Though her body was withering away, her mind was still sharp and we had developed a close relationship in the Lord.  When she moved to the Terraces in Roseville we began to visit her there and the Lord opened another opportunity for the gospel among the residents.

With her condition continuing to worsen, Lucy had to be moved once again to an Eskaton facility in Carmichael which provides a greater degree of personal care.  As you can imagine, if you would put yourself in her place, she was not always happy about these moves as she was having a difficult time understanding why these things were happening to her.

Out of the numerous hymns, songs and scriptures we have had the privilege of sharing with her, we found ourselves focusing on what God has provided for us through the Psalms and the letter to the Philippians. One of the things the apostle Paul wrote nearly two thousand years ago became very evident to Lucy.  The things which happen to us during our sojourn here on earth, our Sovereign God and Savior has designed to serve for the advancement of the gospel.

While visiting with Lucy on July 24th, she began to share with me how she had witnessed to another lady concerning Christ the day before. She said, “I’m afraid I did poor job of it.” And then with tears welling up in her eyes, she said. “That’s the first time I have ever told anyone about Christ.  I’m not sure why I am even telling you this.” I smiled and said, “I do! Because it is a great encouragement to me to know that our labor is not in vain, in the Lord.” She then continued by saying, “I was thinking about when I see Him I don’t want to go without bringing someone with me.”

I assured her that she had been a part of all the opportunities that had already taken place but am rejoicing in her outspokenness at this time in her life. We are told by the scriptures that one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. While others around her are perishing with no hope of eternal life, at nearly ninety-one, Lucy is still bearing fruit for the glory of God.

There’s another part to this story which may seem strange to some. A few weeks ago, we in the Sacramento area endured a record breaking heat wave.  In the intense heat, the flowers in our little garden at the foot of the stairs didn’t stand a chance and began to wither away rapidly.

While it seemed that this would be the end of our enjoyment of the hydrangeas for this season, one little bud began to blossom not long before this recent visit with Lucy and the following came to mind.

The beauty of late bloomers

Is how awesome they appear

Amidst the withered flowers

Drying as they disappear.

Though some may focus only

On what they no longer see,

The eyes of our Beholder

Guides to see His majesty

Displayed in every aspect

Of this world of His creation

But more so by His Son

He gave to bring regeneration

To know Him and to love Him

In the beauty of His Light

And smell the sweetest fragrance

As He puts an end to night!

Through Sufferings

Michael E. Wood

April 15, 2013

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Through various kinds of sufferings and afflictions our merciful Father moves us into a place of greater intimacy with Himself. Through Christ we are made partakers of His holiness so that others may become more bold for the furtherance of the gospel.

For Him who bore our shame

We are to bear the same

Through sufferings and thus display

His mercies for His Name.

Shall we thus now refuse

To Him who did us choose

To be the vessels of His choice

To others to diffuse

The radiance of His smile

To every one His child

Who needs to know what it does mean

To go the extra mile?

Nay! We can not refuse

The One who did us choose

To melt our hearts by His own love

To move our wills to lose

The remnants of our sin

As He has entered in

To give us strength to bear the cross

Of sufferings to win

The crown unto His praise

Who came to show us ways

That He in us is glorified

Through transformation days.

Then in heaven above

We’ll see the fullness of

His glory in the body that

He raised to show His love!

Nothing Compares With Your Smile (New Song)

Michael E. Wood
June 13-17, 2013

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  2 Corinthians 5:10

“You may be struggling with some terrible problem that is almost crushing you at this moment; you may be in some situation that is almost impossible for anyone to endure; or your difficulty may be concerned with your health; it matters not what it may be, remember that, whatever your position or problem, it belongs to the temporary order only. It is passing, it is ‘according to the flesh’. It is not eternal. Thank God for that! The realization of this truth has been the secret of the saints in all centuries, the secret of the martyrs and the confessors, the men who would not say ‘Caesar is Lord’, the men who smiled when they were thrown to the lions in the arena, the men who thanked God that they had been ‘accounted worthy to suffer shame for His name’.”

“The Christian is one who knows all that, and he knows that we shall all stand before this blessed Lord and Master and ‘receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad’.”

“Before we get there we receive a great deal in this life, do we not? We serve a very generous as well as a very just Master. He does reward, He does encourage. Is there anything in life, in the whole world, comparable to His smile upon us, His expression of His satisfaction in us?”

All of the above quotes are by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work” (emphasis mine)

Having finished reading through the volume mentioned, which is an exposition of Ephesians 5:18-6:9, my thoughts were elevated in worship to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dianna was ready for bed and with our normal custom of reading a little something and having a short word of prayer before retiring for the evening; I finished reading the last page and a half to her. As I did, the last paragraph mentioned above by D. Martyn Lloyd Jones stuck in my mind and I found that I couldn’t lie down until I had written out the first stanza of this song in the first person as a melody resembling a Country Music song from my past which came to mind. Upon immediately recording it (to enable me to remember the tune later) I went to bed. The next day I wrote two more verses and with Dianna’s encouragement, a fourth verse was written the following day. With a few adjustments, here is the result.

There is nothing that compares with Your smile,

And that is what we live for.

And in You we find strength for each trial,

Compelled by the cross You bore.

With love everlasting You drew us to know

Your excellent glory You hid there to show

The light of Your presence, as homeward we go,

And there’s nothing that compares with Your smile.

There is nothing that compares with Your smile,

Though our suffering here is real.

You came down to this earth for awhile

In the Son who knows what we feel.

To give us a hope far more precious than breath,

He offered Himself up atoning through death;

Eternity only will show forth the breadth

And there’s nothing that compares with Your smile.

There is nothing that compares with Your smile,

To hear from You, child “well done!”,

By the grace that You give for each mile

Through faith, in this race we run.

You open each door and You close some to stay

Close by You each moment, to walk in the way,

To make us like Jesus at the end of the day

And there’s nothing that compares with Your smile.

There is nothing that compares with Your smile,

Breathing life through the hearts made true,

Giving wisdom as a gift to each child,

As the light by which You shine through,

To mold us and make us, Your body complete,

Till all shall assemble and sit at Your feet.

Oh Jesus, to see in Your eyes as we meet,

That there’s nothing that compares with Your smile.

Oh, there’s nothing that compares with Your smile.

                                 

Romans 12:6

Have you ever considered the difficulty of being given the gift of song without the capacity or ability of being able to put the music stuck in your mind into print for the benefit of others?  What makes it even more frustrating, is that there are times I can hear an entire orchestra playing in my mind, with different vocal parts being sung to particular songs that I have been blessed to write.

In late 2008, at the age of fifty three, my theology began to turn into doxology in the form of poetry and songs.  The only problem (as mentioned above) was that I could not read or write music and did not have the desire or time that it would take to learn that skill.

On a Wednesday night, at Beacon Baptist Church in Burlington, North Carolina, I was encouraged to sing one of the first songs written—acapella.  With handouts of the words being passed out to the congregation, many joined in to worship the LORD on that first occasion.  After one or two more Wednesday night acapella sessions, I began to meet with Larry Hunter who had the capacity to hear the music and eventually picked out the cords on a guitar for accompaniment.  Together we moved from an occasional Wednesday night to an occasional Sunday night service.

May 18, 2010 Dianna and I were married, and drove across country to begin our life together in Citrus Heights, California.  While here, there have been a couple of brief encounters in which someone gifted with the capacity to musically play some of the songs I have written occurred.  Nothing more than the particular occasions ever developed until recently.

From a previous post entitled “The Fullness of Your Grace” dated Monday June 3, 2013, you were introduced to Celeste Chen who spent countless hours transcribing the audible music for three of my original songs from an acapella CD we had made.   This was part of her preparation for a concert she gave at two facilities where we minister.

Mike and Celeste will be leaving the Sacramento area to travel a bit before they begin their mission work in Kenya.  On the 4^th of July, we stopped by to bid them farewell and to drop off a DVD of the two concerts.  They took a break from packing and before we left, presented us with the actual sheet music for those three songs.

There are no words to express our gratitude for the grace that God has shown in providing the means by which these gifts can be shared with others because of the labors of this sweet Christian sister.

As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  (2 Corinthians 9:9)

 

Our Dear Friends - Mike & Celeste Chen

To read more about the first concert click HERE

Till All Is New In The Morning (New Song)

Michael E. Wood
June 11, 2013


And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.   Philippians 1:9-11

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:4-5

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  
Matthew 5:4

Some times we may find ourselves somewhat perplexed at the things God may send into our lives for His glory, which is all the more reason to focus on the great love wherewith He has loved us. While we understand that He is working all things together for our good including our mourning over remaining sin in our lives, we likewise rejoice in knowing that we are accepted in the Beloved and thus the works of our hands are received through Christ alone. We are thus enabled by His Spirit with confidence in the promises of His Word to praise Him for Who He is in every circumstance of life, till all is new in the morning.

While contemplating the Apostle Paul’s example in prayer, the following words came to mind with an Irish tune.

Enthralled in wonder, love, and praise,

You are the joy of all our days.

Oh, keep us Father in Your ways

Till all is new in the morning.

While flaming darts fly through the air,

Oh, take our every anxious care

To show that You are reigning there,

Till all is new in the morning.

Oh, when the night is dark with gloom,

Oh, may we smell the sweet perfume

That rises from the empty tomb,

Till all is new in the morning.

Oh, fix our hearts upon the prize

Of Christ alone beyond the skies,

Whose glory shall fill all our eyes

When all is new in the morning.

And when we see Christ’s face of cheer,

Our God shall wipe away all tears

And then Your praise through endless years

We’ll sing with joy with no mourning.