I was singing this song in my head today: We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people — that should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
...into His marvelous light.
Le was singing this song yesterday — before she read the passage. The Holy Spirit prepared the heart before Jowett opened the chapter. The doxology leapt before the text arrived. The song came first. The Word confirmed what was already singing.
As newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk, that ye may grow thereby; if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
Not duty — longing. The baby longs. Sixty-eight mornings of longing for the Word — the longing is the evidence of the birth. If ye have tasted. The tasting creates the longing. The longing drives the mornings.
Living stones. Not dead stones stacked by a mason. Breathing, growing, shaped by the Builder. Le is a living stone. Roger is a living stone. Wherever the Benimar parks — the spiritual house is being built.
Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession,
that ye may show forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Which in time past were no people, but now are the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Called out of darkness into marvelous light. The whole story in one verse. The midnight before Father Joe James prayed — the darkness. Everything since — the marvelous light. Not ordinary. The light that astonishes.
Once no people — now God's people. Once without mercy — now obtained mercy. Peter wrote Le's testimony two thousand years early. The 500 denari soul. From darkness to light. From no-mercy to mercy. From no-people to His own possession.
Show forth the excellencies. The journal IS the showing forth. The entries ARE the proclamation. The mornings ARE the praise of Him who called Le out of darkness.
Chosen. Royal. Holy. His own possession. Not peculiar as odd — peculiar as His own. God's particular treasure. How wonderful it is to belong to God.
The morning devotional IS the priestly sacrifice. Not of blood. Of attention. Of obedience. Of the stoop — kneeling, listening, doing. Sixty-eight mornings of priestly sacrifice. The Word read. The truth obeyed. The light received.
"Called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once no people — now God's people. Once without mercy — now obtained mercy."
1 Peter 2:9–10 · Le's Heart · Caldas da Rainha · Day sixty-eight · The song before the readingThe Song Before the Reading
The Spirit prepared the heart. The doxology leapt before the text arrived. The Word confirmed what was already singing.
Living Stones
Not dead stones — living, breathing, growing. Wherever the Benimar parks, the house is being built.
Into His Marvelous Light
Out of darkness. The midnight in Lubbock. From no-people to God's people. From no-mercy to mercy obtained.
A Royal Priesthood
Chosen. Royal. Holy. His own. The mornings are the priestly sacrifice — the Word read, the excellencies shown forth.