Poems & Quotes By Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

Tune Thou My Harp

Tune Thou my harp;
There is not, Lord, could never be,
The skill in me.

Tune Thou my harp,
That it may play Thy melody,
Thy harmony.

Tune Thou my harp;

O Spirit, breathe Thy thought through me

As pleaseth Thee.

Hast Thou No Scar 

by Amy Carmichael

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet, I was wounded by the archers, spent.
Leaned me against the tree to die, and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole. Can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?

Another good quote by Amy Carmichael:

"Is it not a mercy that missionaries can laugh?"

And:

"You cannot pull people uphill who do not want to go; you can only point up."

And one more:

"He that is down cannot get between God and his glory."

Matthew 16: 23

I wanted to share some encouragement and thoughts from Scripture.  I was reading Matthew 16 today where Jesus rebukes Peter.  Peter makes perfect sense to me.

Jesus keeps saying he "must" suffer and be killed.  Peter's viewpoint:  No way!  This should never happen! This is bad!  No way!  Jesus in turn calls Peter "Satan" and "a hindrance to me!"  He accuses Peter of "not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."  It came to me that I so often do that.  I set my mind on things of man, of the world, of what makes SENSE.  It doesn't make sense to me for suffering, tragedy, and the like.  The things of man are the things that make sense!  Jesus wants a renewal/transformation of my mind so that it is set on things of God like His mind was.

Romans 8:5-6 reads:  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Colossians 3:2 says: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

And 1 Peter 1:13 reads:  Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So this is my prayer today:
Lord, please make my mind set on things of God, not on things that make sense to me.  Help me live according to the Spirit and not the flesh.  Help me set my mind on You!  Thank you for the hope that I can set fully on the grace that you will bring to me.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

New Year's Day hike :)