His eye is on the sparrow and He watches over us. Woke up with this song in my head today.
I know someday I will look back and understand this transition. All things work together for good for those who love God. 🙏
✦ The Spirit Sings to the Pilgrim
Le woke in Jarnac-Champagne with a song in her head — not chosen, not searched for. Given. The Spirit sings to the pilgrim what the pilgrim needs to hear. And on a travel morning during a season of transition — the song is: He is watching. He sees. The sparrow does not fall without the Father's knowledge.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
"Ne vend-on pas deux passereaux pour un sou? Cependant, il n'en tombe pas un à terre sans la volonté de votre Père. Et même les cheveux de votre tête sont tous comptés. Ne craignez donc point: vous valez plus que beaucoup de passereaux."
Matthieu 10:29–31 · Louis SegondThe French says ne craignez donc point: vous valez plus que beaucoup de passereaux — do not fear: you are worth more than many sparrows. The sparrow is worth a half-penny. Le is worth the blood of Christ. If the Father watches the half-penny bird, how much more Le? The watching is not surveillance. It is love that counts the hairs of the head — and directs the steps of the pilgrim through France. 🙏
"God is more specially present, in some places, by the several and more special manifestations of himself to extraordinary purposes.
First, by glory. Thus, his seat is in heaven, because there he sits encircled with all the outward demonstrations of his glory... And thus, they that 'die in the Lord,' may be properly said to be 'gone to God;' with whom although they were before, yet now they enter into his courts, into the secret of his tabernacle, into the retinue and splendor of his glory. That is called walking with God, but this is dwelling or being with him."
✦ Walking With — and Dwelling With
Yesterday Taylor taught: God is present everywhere — as the air, as the sea, as the womb. Today he adds a distinction: there is a general presence and a special presence.
The general presence fills heaven and earth. The special presence is the glory — heaven itself. Those who die in the Lord are said to be "gone to God" — not because God was absent before, but because now they enter the courts, the tabernacle, the splendor. Taylor's distinction: walking with God is for this life. Dwelling with God is for the next. Both are presence — but one is the road, the other is the home. 🙏
"God is especially present in the hearts of his people, by his Holy Spirit: and indeed the hearts of holy men are temples in the truth of things, and, in type and shadow, they are heaven itself.
For God reigns in the hearts of his servants: there is his kingdom. The power of grace has subdued all his enemies: there is his power. They serve him night and day, and give him thanks and praise: that is his glory. This is the religion and worship of God in the temple. The temple itself is the heart of man; Christ is the High Priest."
✦ Kingdom, Power, and Glory — In the Heart
Taylor takes the Lord's Prayer — Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory — and places all three inside the human heart:
The kingdom — God reigns in the heart. His rule is there. His sovereignty is not distant. It is interior.
The power — Grace has subdued His enemies. The power is not in the sky. It is in the heart where grace has won.
The glory — The servants give thanks and praise. The glory is not in a cathedral. It is in the heart that worships — over coffee, on the road, in the motorhome.
The temple itself is the heart of man. Not a building. Not a room. The heart. And if the heart is the temple, then the temple travels — from Caldas to France, from Portugal to Brittany. The temple is never left behind. The temple is Le. 🙏
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
"Ne savez-vous pas que vous êtes le temple de Dieu, et que l'Esprit de Dieu habite en vous?"
1 Corinthiens 3:16 · Louis SegondThe French says vous êtes le temple de Dieu, et l'Esprit de Dieu habite en vous — you ARE the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. Not: you contain the temple. You are the temple. Taylor and Paul say the same thing. The dwelling is not a visit. The Spirit does not come and go. He inhabits. He lives there. The heart is His address. 🙏
"Let every thing you see represent to your spirit the presence, the excellency, and the power of God; and let your conversation with the creatures lead you to the Creator."
✦ The Conversation with the Creatures
Taylor's final instruction is the daily practice: let everything you see point to God. The French countryside. The trees. The fields. The sky over Jarnac-Champagne. The sparrow that does not fall without the Father's will. Every creature is a conversation — and every conversation leads to the Creator.
Psalm 19:1 — The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Romans 1:20 — His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Taylor, David, and Paul all say the same: the created world is a letter from the Creator. Read it. 🙏
✦ Someday I Will Look Back
I know someday I will look back and understand this transition. Le does not need to understand now. The understanding will come when the looking back begins. And the looking back will confirm what the looking forward already believes:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
"Nous savons, du reste, que toutes choses concourent au bien de ceux qui aiment Dieu, de ceux qui sont appelés selon son dessein."
Romains 8:28 · Louis SegondThe French says toutes choses concourent au bien — all things work together toward the good. Toutes choses. All things. Not some things. Not the easy things. Not the things that make sense at the time. All things — the apartment sold, the car sold, the road through Spain, the transition into France, the mornings in the motorhome. All working together. Toward the good. According to His purpose.
Spurgeon's day fourteen: all things working for good — the triumph of grace. And Le today: I know someday I will look back. The faith is not in the understanding. The faith is in the knowing — before the understanding arrives. 🙏
"His eye is on the sparrow — and I know He watches me."
Le · The song the Spirit gave · The temple is the heart · All things work together for goodThe Sparrow
Not one falls without the Father's will. The hairs are numbered. The pilgrim is worth more than many sparrows. He watches — not with surveillance but with love.
The Heart Is the Temple
Kingdom, power, glory — all inside the heart. The temple travels. From Caldas to France. The Spirit does not visit. He inhabits. The heart is His address.
All Things Together
Toutes choses concourent au bien. All things — not some — work together for good. The faith is in the knowing, before the understanding arrives. Someday, the looking back.
Jeremy Taylor's eighth day — the special presence. And the Spirit woke Le with a song.
The song came first: Before the reading, before the pastor, before the entry — His eye is on the sparrow. The Spirit did not wait for Taylor. The Spirit sang the lesson before the lesson began. And the lesson and the song say the same thing: He watches. He sees. He is present — not generally, but specially, in the heart of His servant.
Taylor's two presences: Yesterday — God is present everywhere. Today — God is more specially present in two ways: by glory (in heaven) and by His Spirit (in the heart). The general presence fills heaven and earth. The special presence fills Le. The temple is the heart. The kingdom is there. The power is there. The glory is there. The temple travels in a motorhome through France.
Walking with and dwelling with: Taylor's distinction is Le's transition. This season — the road, the travel, the motorhome — is the walking with. The dwelling with is ahead — in heaven, in the courts, in the splendor. But even the walking with is not alone. The sparrow is watched. The pilgrim is guided. The steps are directed.
Le's faith in the transition: I know someday I will look back and understand. The understanding is not required now. The knowing is enough. Romans 8:28 does not say: you will understand all things. It says: all things work together for good. The understanding is for later. The knowing is for now.
The conversation with the creatures: Taylor's closing instruction — let everything you see lead you to the Creator. Le's entire journal is this instruction lived. Every reading, every mentor, every scripture, every French Écouter button — a conversation with creation that leads to the Creator. The journal is the conversation. The Creator is the destination. And the road between them — is the Beloved Devotional. 🙏