SUNRISE, SUNSET!         DO 2341          12/86
--Take Time to Pay Attention to the Lord's Great Things!--Take Time with the Lord!


         1. HOW SLOWLY & QUIETLY THE LORD DOES GREAT THINGS SUCH AS A SUNSET! When the Lord puts on a Light Show we ought to stop & look at it! We ought to pay attention!--Such as a sunset or a moonrise or a rainbow or the clouds or any of His great beautiful works of art!--A butterfly or a flower or a tree or a storm or all kinds of things that demonstrate the beauty & power of the Lord!
         2. WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION WHEN HE DOES THINGS! He's usually doing them for our benefit, so we ought to show a little appreciation & thanksgiving & praise; otherwise He's like an actor with no audience!
         3. BEAUTIFUL! A CATHEDRAL IN HEAVEN! Halls in Heaven glow with light! It looks like the streets of the Golden City! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! Praise You Lord! Thank You Lord for Your wonderful sky shows!
         4. EVEN AFTER THE SUN IS GONE THE LIGHT HASN'T LEFT THE SKY. SEE HOW PRETTY IT IS! PTL! TYJ! It's kind of like the way it is with the Lord: He left this Earth, He left the Light of His Word behind to show that He still exists. But it is dying, it seems like it's getting less & less all the time, & soon comes the darkness. "Gross darkness shall cover the Earth" (Isa.60:2), but then comes the sunrise, thank the Lord! The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings & set everything straight!--Mal.4:2. PTL! TYL!

         5. THE DAWN REMINDS ME OF THE WAY YOU CAN'T ALWAYS SEE THE LORD, because I can't see the actual sun itself when it's rising, but I can sure see its effects upon the whole World, the way everything lights up with the sunshine!--Just like everything lights up with the Sunshine of God's Word & drives away the dark! Praise the Lord!
         6. I WONDER WHY OLD PEOPLE SLEEP SO LITTLE & WAKE UP SO EARLY? I guess we're beginning to appreciate time & we don't want to waste any. It's no sacrifice for us to get up early in the morning, we can't sleep, ha! We old folks don't work very hard, so we sleep very little.
         7. I THINK MAYBE THE LORD WANTS US TO SPEND MORE TIME ALONE PREPARING TO LEAVE THIS EARTH & GO TO HEAVEN!--More time & communion with Him thinking about our lives & taking account of what we accomplished, thinking & praying a good deal about if we are doing our best for the Lord, & praying about what we could do more.
         8. WE WATCH THE SUNSET & WE THINK OF THE SUNSET OF OUR LIFE, & WE WATCH THE DAWN & WE THINK OF THE SUNRISE OF TOMORROW! Sometimes we wonder which will be our last one. Sometimes we wonder if this IS the last one & wonder if we have done all we can do, & if He'll say, "Well done, dear son!"
         9. WHEN YOU SEE THE SUNSET YOU WONDER IF YOU'VE DONE WHAT YOU COULD TODAY. And as you see the sun RISE, you wonder if you're going to do all you can tomorrow. (Sings:)

         "Sunrise tomorrow! Sunrise tomorrow!
         Sunrise in glory is waiting for me!
         Sunrise tomorrow! Sunrise tomorrow!
         Sunrise with Jesus for Eternity!"

Praise the Lord! TYL! There will be no more sorrow then, thank You Lord! No more sickness or sorrow, pain or death!

         10. IT'S SO WONDERFUL TO VIEW GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CREATION! It gives you such a wonderful feeling of serenity & peace & calm & power of the Lord & harmony & beauty of His Creation, to know that God still lives & still controls things!
         11. LOOK HOW LONG THE SUNSET IS, ISN'T THAT BEAUTIFUL? The Lord never seems to be in a hurry about anything. How patient the Lord is! I just don't have the patience of God. I want to see it happen NOW & do it now! But He's willing to wait for CENTURIES for some things! He's been waiting 6,000 years for Man! We get in a hurry & we want to rush things up & get things the way we think they ought to be in a hurry, but the Lord just lopes along, floats along, days dying in the West slowly, easily, softly, quietly. We can hardly even see any of His Creation move, everything goes so slowly.--The same way the sun comes up in the morning.
         12. I GUESS THAT'S ONE REASON THE LORD LETS OLD FOLKS WAKE UP SO EARLY IN THE MORNING, SO THEY CAN BE ALONE WITH HIM & THINK & PRAY, face Him alone without all the distractions of the day, without anybody else to lean on. You just have to face God's inquiry alone, take account of yourself & things & listen to the Lord, only the Lord. Of course, the Devil tries to get his two cents in too, but thank the Lord, it seems like the Lord speaks louder when you're alone, particularly in the early morning.
         13. IN SOME WAYS IT'S KIND OF A SAD TIME BECAUSE YOU'RE ALONE & EVERYBODY ELSE IS ASLEEP. You're all by yourself & you have to face the day & face the Lord alone. But it really helps get your priorities straight & realise what's important & what isn't. I think it's partly the Lord preparing old folks to die, because that's something that everybody has to face, in a sense, alone with the Lord or one of His emissaries. Thank the Lord we don't really face it alone. They used to sing an old song:
                  "I don't have to cross Jordan alone.
                  Jesus died for my sins to atone.
                  When the darkness I see,
                  He'll be waiting for me.
                  I don't have to cross Jordan alone!"

         14. MY GOODNESS, WE'VE LAIN HERE A WHOLE HOUR MOONING ABOUT THE SUNSET & SUNRISES! Well, praise the Lord, thank the Lord for the beauties of God's Creation, & the quietness where you can hear the Voice of the Lord so clearly.
         15. I THINK IT MUST BE A LIFE-LONG HABIT, SUNSET ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF SUPPER! Praise the Lord! Amen! Thank You Lord for all of Your wonderful Creation & these beautiful sunrises & sunsets. It's good if the sunset of a life can be as beautiful as the sunsets of God's Creation! It would be wonderful if we could die as beautifully as the day.--As beautifully & as gracefully & as quietly. If I should go before the Lord comes, I hope to go like that.--Not TOO slowly, but slowly, quietly, gracefully, peacefully, with a few fond farewells, a few final words.

         16. "THEIR LINE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL OF THE EARTH, & THEIR WORDS TO THE END OF THE WORLD! There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." (Psa.19:3,4)--The voice of God's Creation & the Sun, stars & Moon. His creations, praise the Lord! "The heavens declare the glory of God & the firmament sheweth His handiwork! Day unto day uttereth speech, & night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."--Psa.19:1-3. Praise the Lord for God's Creation! It all speaks to us of the Lord, amen.

         17. JUST THINK, IT TAKES A WHOLE HOUR FOR THE SUN TO SET! God never seems to be in a hurry.--And it takes another hour for it to rise. PTL! Thank You Jesus for sunrises & sunsets!