The Beautiful Works of God

THE BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF GOD

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful, -
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings.
He made their glowing colors.
He made their shining wings.

The tall trees in the green wood.
The meadows where we play,
The rushes, by the water.
We gather every day, -

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips, that we may tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who doeth all things well. 

A Dead World

“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”  Song of Solomon 6:10

       The other day I was visiting a little friend who had been ill for fourteen long months, through two winters and one summer. He had gone to bed near Christmas and had been a little invalid all that year, and through the next Christmas. His name is Frederick. He has a sister just his own age to the very day, and her name is Florence. Florence went to school and learned to write and add and subtract and do other queer things. Frederick stayed in bed, kept very quiet and read. He was only seven, but he read all sorts of books, and when he could not read others read to him, his nurse, his father, or his mother, or Billy or Betty, and he came to know a lot of history and science and fairy tales.
       One day when I was telling him about the big world outside, and the coming of spring with its buds and leaves and flowers he chuckled and said, “Some day this world will be just like the moon.''What do you think of that? What did he mean? I thought perhaps he had been reading Robert Louis Stevenson who said that:

“The moon has a face like the clock in the hall
It shines on thieves on the garden wall.”

       Then I thought perhaps it was Mother Goose he was thinking of:

“The man in the moon
Came tumbling down
And asked the way to Norwich.

He went by the south
And burnt his mouth
With supping cold pease-porridge.”

        I soon knew, however, that he was not thinking about fancies and fairies, but about facts, and I said, “Why do you think so?” “Well,” said he in a wise sort of way, “don’t you know the moon is dead and some day this world will be dead just like the moon.” Of course I knew that. Everybody knows that. The moon is dead. Nothing lives in the moon. Nothing ever happens there. No storms, no lightning, no noise, no dust, no twilight, no blue sky, nothing happens in the moon. There is no life, no air there, and the sky is as black as ink. It has no weather. It is a dead world.
       No wonder “the man in the moon has a crick in his back. Whee! Whim! Ain’t you sorry for him?” Perhaps this is why people have always thought the moon harmed people and made them go out of their heads, as we say. Do you remember the Psalm that says, “The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night?” You can have a moonstroke, as well as a sunstroke. All dead things are bad, and a dead world like the moon may have a bad influence on people, especially on young people who stay out late at night. 
       I said, “Yes, the moon is dead, a dead, dead world, but how beautiful it is and how wonderful it is at night. How is that? If it is dead how is it so full of light?” And I repeated the verse:

“Moon, so round and yellow,
Looking from on high,
How I love to see you
Shining in the sky.
Oft and oft I wonder,
When I see you there,
How they get to light you,
Hanging in the air.”

        Then Frederick turned over and said with a laugh, “Don’t you know? Why, it’s the sun that makes the moon beautiful. The moon is dead, but the sun shines on it, and makes it shine.” And then I thought that we, too, are something like the moon, sort of dead and dull and useless, until Jesus, the great sun of our life, shines upon us and lights up our lives. The only way for us to be bright and useful is to have Jesus shine upon us. If we stay near Him we will be like Him.
       Frederick is well now and lives out in a real live world and some day when I see him I am going to preach this story-sermon to him and then read and explain to him this sermon-story in rhyme:

“A Persian fable says: One day
A wanderer found a lump of clay
So redolent of sweet perfume,
Its odors scented all the room.
‘What art thou?’ was his quick demand;
‘Art thou some gem from the Samarkand,
Or Spikenard in this rude disguise,
Or other costly merchandise?’
‘Nay! I am but a lump of clay
‘Then whence this wondrous sweetness—say?’
‘Friend, if the secret I disclose,
I have been dwelling with the rose!”

        Perhaps that verse of poetry is rather hard for little children to understand, but its meaning is very simple. It means that just as a piece of clay which has no sweetness in itself may become fragrant by being in the same place with a rose, so we too may become sweet and lovely by living in the presence of Jesus. The sweetness of the rose sweetens the clay, and the love and beauty of our Lord make us kind and sweet also. I am sure Frederick will understand both the story and the sermon. Kerr

Teach Us To Pray

 TEACH US TO PRAY

Teach us to pray
Oh, Father! we look up to Thee,
And this our one request shall be,
Teach us to pray.

Teach us to pray.
A form of words will not suffice, -
The heart must bring its sacrifice:
Teach us to pray.

Teach us to pray.
To whom shall we, Thy children, turn?
Teach Thou the lesson we would learn:
Teach us to pray.

Teach us to pray.
To Thee, alone, our hearts look up:
Prayer is our only door of hope;
Teach us to pray.

The Dove's Visit

 THE DOVE'S VISIT

I knew a little, sickly child.
The long, long summer's day.
When all the world was green and bright,
Alone in bed to lay;
There used to come a little dove
Before his window small,
And sing to him with her sweet voice,
Out of the fir-tree tall.

And when the sick child better grew,
And he could creep along,
Close to that window he would come,
And listen to her song.
He was so gentle in his speech,
And quiet at his play,
He would not, for the world, have made,
That sweet bird fly away.

There is a Holy Dove that sings
To every listening child, -
That whispers to his little heart
A song more sweet and mild.
It is the Spirit of our God
That speaks of him within;
That leads him to all things good,
And holds him back from sin.

And he must hear that "still, small voice
Nor tempt it to depart, -
The Spirit, great and wonderful,
That whispers in his heart.
He must be pure, and good, and true;
Must strive, and watch, and pray;
For unresisted sin, at last,
May drive that Dove away.

Dust

 “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis. 3:19

       The Bible tells us very plainly that our bodies are made of dust. God made man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. We do not like to think we are made out of dust. We like to think we are made out of sunshine and rainbows, and if there is any dust about us, it must be golden star dust.
       I heard once of a dear old Scotchwoman who had always refused to have her picture taken. Many old ladies, you know, are stubborn, especially Scotch old ladies. Her family, however, urged her to have her photograph taken so they could send it to one of her sons who lived in America, and she consented. When the first proof was received she looked at it long and silently and then without a word set out for the studio. “Is that me?” she said to the photographer. “Yes, madam,” he said. “And is it like me?” she added. “Yes, madam, it is a speaking likeness.” Then said the old Scotch woman, “Well, if that's so, it’s a humbling sight.”
       We laugh at the dear old lady, for we know she was wrong, for there is nothing lovelier in the world than just a fine, sweet, thought-ennobled face of a mother or a grandmother.
       And what a wonderful thing dust is! It is alive with mystery before which wise men dream and wonder. To a wise man who knows, “the very dust is dear.” It is a living thing, and out of it the world has been made, and scientists tell us that we owe our beautiful sunsets and our refreshing rain to the dust that floats in the upper air.
       We are apt to think the only value dust has is to make work, but it is not so. Dust is useful. A great scientist once wrote a book which he called “The Wonderful Century.” The Wonderful Century was of course the nineteenth century which includes all the years between 1800 and 1900. In this book he wrote about some of the marvelous things discovered during those years and one of the chapters is about Dust, and among other things he said, “It is doubtful whether we could even live without dust. To the presence of dust we owe the clouds, the mists, the rains.” If it were not for the dust instead of soft showers and refreshing rains we would have water spouts and terrible torrents. It all seems strange, but true things are often strange, and sometimes little things are really big things.
       A great man by the name of John Ruskin once took a handful of mud from the road of a great city. It was just a handful of dirty dust moistened with water. This wise man then divided the mud into four parts, clay, soot, sand, and water. Then he told the people who were listening to him that if the clay were left alone for thousands or millions of years it would, under certain conditions, become a beautiful sapphire. The sand, he said, in the same strange way would be changed into a precious opal. The soot, the blackest of things, would in time become a brilliant diamond and the water could easily be changed into a pearly dewdrop or a snow crystal.
       God can change the meanest thing into a priceless gem, and He can so transform us that we can become like Him. We are made of the dust of the field but we are also made in the image of God.

“Life is real; life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal!
‘Dust thou art, to dust returnest
Was not spoken of the soul.”

       The Apostle John said: “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.” Kerr

Spiritual Blessings

SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS

Almighty Father! Thou hast many blessings
In store for every loving child of Thine;
For this I pray, - Let me, Thy grace possessing,
Seek to be guided by Thy will divine.

Not for earth's treasures, - for her joys the dearest,
Would I my supplications raise to Thee;
Not for the hopes that to my heart are nearest,
But only that I give that heart to Thee.

I pray that Thou wouldst guide and guard me ever;
Cleanse, by Thy power, from every stain of sin;
I will Thy blessing ask on each endeavor.
And thus Thy promised peace my soul shall win.

"Thou, God, Seest Me."

"THOU, GOD, SEEST ME."

Thine eye is on me always.
Thou knowest the way I take;
Thou seest me when I'm sleeping,
Thou seest me when I wake.

Thine arm is round about me,
Thy hand is underneath 
Thy love will still preserve me,
If I Thy laws do keep.

Thou art my present helper, -
Be Thou my daily guide;
Then I'll be safe for eve,
Whatever may betide.

Oh ! help me, dearest Father,
To walk in wisdom's way,
That I, Thy loving child, may be
Through every future day.
And, by my loving actions, prove
That He who guardeth me is Love.
 

They brought sacrifices to God...

Description of The Coloring Page: The WOG coloring pages are from India. These have been dedicated to the children of the internet by this ministry. The collection was compiled by Yesudas Solomon in 2020 at www.WordOfGod.in, you may contact them at wordofgod@wordofgod.in to ask about these particular resources. The scripture reference is about two brothers, Cain and Abel bringing their sacrifices to God. Cain brought vegetables and grain that he grew himself. Abel was a shepherd, so he brought a lamb that came from his flocks. 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanksgiving

 THANKSGIVING

There's not a leaf within the bower, -
There's not a bird upon the tree, -
There's not a dewdrop on the flower, -
But bears the impress. Lord, of Thee.

Thy power the varied leaf designed,  
And gave the bird its thrilling tone;
Thy hand the dewdrops' tints combined,
Till like a diamond's blaze they shone.

Yes, dewdrops, leaves and buds, and all, -
The smallest, like the greatest things, -
The sea's vast space, the earth's wide ball,  
Alike proclaim Thee, King of kings!  

But man alone, to bounteous Heaven,  
Thanksgiving's conscious strains can raise:  
To favored man, alone, 'tis given.
To join the angelic choir in praise.

Be Kind to The Poor

 BE KIND TO THE POOR

Turn not from him, who asks of thee
A portion of thy store;
Poor though in earthly goods thou be,
Thou yet canst give, - what's more,

The balm of comfort thou canst pour
Into his grieving mind,
Who oft is turned from wealth's proud door,
With many a word unkind.

Does any from the false world find
Naught but reproach and scorn?
Does any, stung by words unkind,
Wish that he ne'er was born?

Do thou raise up his drooping heart.
Restore his wounded mind;
Though naught of wealth thou canst impart,
Yet still thou mayest be kind.

And oft again thy words shall wing
Backward their course to thee,
And in thy breast will prove a spring
Of pure felicity.

The Lesson of The Leaves

 THE LESSON OF THE LEAVES

How do the leaves grow,  
In spring, upon their stems?  
Oh! the sap swells up with a drop for all,  
And that is life to them.

What do the leaves do
Through the long summer hours,
They make a home for the wandering birds,
And shelter the wild flowers.

How do the leaves fade
Beneath the autumn blast?
Oh! they fairer grow before they die,
Their brightest is their last.

We, too, are like leaves,  
children! weak and small;
God knows each leaf of the forest shade:  
He knows us, each and all.  

Never a leaf falls
Until its part is done;  
God gives us grace, like sap, and then
Some work to every one.

We, too, must grow old,  
Beneath the autumn sky;
But lovelier and brighter our lives may grow
Like leaves before they die.

Brighter with kind deeds,
With love to others given;
Till the leaf falls off from the autumn tree,
And the spirit is in heaven.

Color Joseph asking his brother's for proof

Description of The Coloring Page: The WOG coloring pages are from India. These have been dedicated to the children of the internet by this ministry. The collection was compiled by Yesudas Solomon in 2020 at www.WordOfGod.in, you may contact them at wordofgod@wordofgod.in to ask about these particular resources. The scripture reference is about Joseph asking for proof of his brother Benjamin's existence, Genesis 43:17-34.

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.