Our Rock Of Faithfulness 10.31.18

OUR ROCK OF FAITHFULNESS

BREAD

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:21-26 (NIV)

4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)

2 He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior.” 2 Samuel 22:2-3 (NIV)

25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. Psalm 18:25-26 (NIV)

30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? Psalm 18:30-31 (NIV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:23-24 (NIV)

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Though men are false, God is faithful.” Matthew Henry

“God tries our faith so that we may try His faithfulness.” Anonymous

“God is good at being faithful!” James Bruce Evans

“We have every reason to hold on firmly to the faith we profess, for He who has called us is faithful! It is Jesus who saves us, lives to intercede for us, allows us to approach the throne of grace with confidence, and grants us His abundant grace, mercy, and peace.” BHY

“We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which He leads us all end in glory and immortality. It is true they may not be smooth paths – they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the ‘city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.’ ‘All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant.’ Let’s put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, His purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy…..His dear love will make us far more blessed than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“So deeply rooted in our hearts is unbelief, so prone are we to it that while all confess with the lips that God is faithful, no man ever believes it without an arduous struggle. … Certainly, whenever God thus recommends his word, he indirectly rebukes our unbelief, the purport of all that is said being to eradicate perverse doubt from our hearts. For unbelief is so deeply rooted in our hearts, and we are so inclined to it, that not without hard struggle is each one able to persuade himself of what all confess with the mouth: namely, that God is faithful. … Surely, as often as God commends his Word to us, he indirectly rebukes us for our unbelief, for he has no other intention than to uproot perverse doubts from our hearts.” John Calvin

“Random acts of greatness pale in comparison to habitual acts of faithfulness. It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do every day, that changes everything.” Ann Voskamp

“Faithfulness rarely feels heroic; it feels much more like showing up and hanging in. It is a matter of going to our cell, whatever form that might take, and letting it teach us what it will. Availing himself (Brother Lawrence) to consistent faithfulness yielded the blessing of both proficiency and presence—the presence of God—right there in midst of the monotony of dirty pots and pans.” Margaret Guenther

“‘On whom dost thou trust?’ We can answer boldly, ‘We trust in him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never be sullied, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness never can know a diminution.’” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Forgetfulness is the fuel for idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:23). Spiritual amnesia often leads to faithlessness. This is the most important lesson for us in Deuteronomy 4. God’s concern is that his people might ‘forget the things’ that they had seen and that the memory of their gracious deliverance might ‘depart’ from their hearts (Deuteronomy 4:9). Thus we read here of the critical importance of remembrance, of calling to mind again and again the history of God’s dealing with us and His faithfulness at every turn.” Sam Storms

“God has as a strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement; for He is able to do all things. Believer, until you can drain the ocean dry of omnipotence and break the towering mountains of almighty strength into pieces, you never need to be afraid. Don’t think that the strength of a human being shall ever be able to overcome the power of God. As long as the earth’s huge pillars stand, you have enough reason to remain firm in your faith. The same God who directs the earth in its orbit, feeds the burning furnace of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply you with daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, don’t even dream that He will prove unable to fulfill His own promises. Remember what He did in ages past, in the former generations. Remember how He spoke, and it was done; how He commanded, and it stood fast. Shall He that created the world grow weary? He hangs the world upon nothing; shall He who does this be unable to support His children? Shall He be unfaithful to His word for want of power? Who is it that restrains the tempest? Doesn’t He ride upon the wings of the wind, and make the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean in the hollow of His hand? How can He fail you? When He has put such a faithful promise as this on record, will you for a moment indulge the thought that He has out promised Himself, and gone beyond his power to fulfill? Ah, no! You cannot doubt any longer.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Christian, do you believe that He has your best interest at heart? Do you believe that He has rescued you from the dominion of darkness? Do you believe He loves you with an everlasting love? Do you believe that He will never forsake you? Do you believe that His faithfulness is new every morning? Do you believe that He died for you and if He already did the greater will He not do the lesser? Do you believe that He rejoices over you with singing? Do you believe that He would leave the ninety-nine to come and find you? Do you believe that in Him there is comfort, peace and joy? Then look to Him and have hope.” BHY

HEART SAVOR
• God is ever faithful.
• The all-powerful, ever faithful God loves His children with an everlasting love and always has their best interest at heart even when we may not understand His ways or present our circumstances. Our lack of understanding never negates His ability or His love. Never.
• God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Anchor Of Hope – Firm And Secure 10.29.18

ANCHOR OF HOPE – FIRM AND SECURE

BREAD

16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:16-20 (NIV)

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 (NIV)

2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (NIV)

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Psalm 25:1-3 (NIV)

16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. Psalm 33:16-18 (NIV)

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)– 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:11-13 (NIV)

24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness– 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24-27 (NIV)

5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah Psalm 62:5-8 (NIV)

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 (NIV)

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)

BUTTER

“I was the enemy of God. I was stamping through God’s universe, shaking my fist in His face. And in the very moment when I was shaking my fist in God’s face and tramping through the Creator’s universe, muddying all His streams, that’s when Jesus died for me. And if this is when Jesus died for me, what hope it gives me now! Now, even when I fall, the blood of Jesus is enough. He didn’t save me because I was strong; He saved me when I was weak. He didn’t save me when I was a pretty thing; He saved me when I was a mess. On the basis of this reality, I can have comfort.” Francis Schaeffer

“Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity.” Herman Melville

“Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.” Gilbert Brenken

“It’s a promise that whatever you might be experiencing today is just one chapter in a story that He is writing, and that story isn’t over yet….extract the precious from the worthless (Jeremiah 15)..Life has far more sticky situations than miraculous moments. As you encounter challenges, difficulties, and setbacks, train your eyes to ‘extract the precious.’ Train your ears to hear the promise. And train your heart to pursue relentless hope.” Beth Guckenberger

“Seeking with faith, hope, and love pleases our Lord; and finding Him pleases the soul, filling it full of joy.” Julian of Norwich

“To live without hope is to cease to live.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Theirs is an endless road, a hopeless maze, who seek for goods before they seek for God.” Bernard of Clairvaux

“Hope, it is exquisitely fragile and it is an exceptional force and it is essential to faith and you can’t afford to lose it. Lose your fears but never your hope.” Ann Voskamp

“Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us.” Billy Graham

“Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou ever! For God fails thee not!” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Discouragement wars against the very trait that faith and hope in God brings: courage. In order to stand up to the trials and tribulations of a fallen world, we must turn to God for courage and make a commitment to stand strong in our faith through Jesus Christ. God’s best for your life does not include remaining in a place devoid of hope, faith, and courage. Therefore, when facing discouragement, turn to God. He will bring the hope and courage you need to live victoriously over life’s hardships.” Michael Youssef

“Christian, do you believe that He has your best interest at heart? Do you believe that He has rescued you from the dominion of darkness? Do you believe He loves you with an everlasting love? Do you believe that He will never forsake you? Do you believe that His faithfulness is new every morning? Do you believe that He died for you and if He already did the greater will He not do the lesser? Do you believe that He rejoices over you with singing? Do you believe that He would leave the ninety-nine to come and find you? Do you believe that in Him there is comfort, peace and joy? Then look to Him and have hope.” BHY

“No matter what happens in life, remember this: You have a Savior. As a Christian, you have been saved from death. You have been saved from eternal punishment and hell. You have the hope that when you die, you will go straight to heaven. That is the most important thing about the Christian life. There is a Heaven waiting for you. You have a Savior.” Greg Laurie

“Life is hopeless without Christ. But He is alive, and He is willing to fill every void in your life. You can look to Him for all the right answers to your every question. Jesus will meet you right where you are. God knows you, and He loves you. He knows your deepest needs. Keep His Word close to your heart, and you will not be deceived.” Michael Youssef

“And it is the believer, who is not content with this spontaneous expression of his hope, but who takes time in secret prayer to wait until he has received and laid hold of what he has seen, who will really grow strong in Christ.” Andrew Murray

“But when the psalmist said, ‘All my springs are in you,’ he meant that all his innermost resources were found in His ever-flowing and overflowing Lord – all his courage, all his joy, all his resilience, all his optimism, all his hope, all his love, all his wisdom, all his patience. The Lord Jesus is the source of that which refreshes our personalities and of all that makes our personalities refreshing.” Robert J. Morgan

“Though we now see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, we hold the certainty of the hope of glory in our hearts. And what does that entail? As believers, we are presently objects of Divine approval and blessedness because of the blood of Jesus and His righteousness and we presently possess this glory in spirit by the Holy Spirit. One day – either upon Jesus’ return or our death – we will be transformed outwardly as well into this glorified beautiful condition. It is a state into which one is accorded the fullest enjoyment of the admiration of God as objects of His highest regard and praise and further the enjoyment of fullness, satisfaction, joy, righteousness and ceaseless delight. It encompasses outward splendor, grandeur, pomp, elegance, magnificence, beauty, excellence of appearance, impressiveness, brilliance, illustriousness and eminence (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids). Therefore, encourage one another with these words!” BHY

HEART SAVOR

• Our hope is in Jesus – not in self, not in accomplishments, not in the created rather in the Creator.
• Everything in Scripture is written to give us hope.
• Our endurance is inspired by our hope in Jesus.

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Comforter 10.26.18

COMFORTER

BREAD

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4 (NIV)

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 40:1-2 (NIV)

12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass.” Isaiah 51:12 (NIV)

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)

12 For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” 14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. Isaiah 66:12-14 (NIV)

11 For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD– the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13 Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. Jeremiah 31:11-13 (NIV)

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 (NIV)

5 For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn–conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 (NIV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Though assaults be many, and my enemies mighty, if God strengthen me, I have enough to comfort me; for the greater my enemy, the more glorious my victory; and the more glorious my victory, the more triumphant my glory.” K.H. Von Bogatzky

“If religion is worth anything, it is worth everything. They who do not like Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril. Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this belief, that it is well worth what we give for it. The terms are, that we prefer Christ.” Matthew Henry

“In Christ the heart of the Father is revealed, and higher comfort there cannot be than to rest in the Father’s heart.” Andrew Murray

“As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more wisely, we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match that would instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort. There is no need for God to create a new thing upon the earth in order to restore believers’ joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine as before. Let us then remember the loving-kindness of the Lord and rehearse His deeds of grace. Let us open the volume of recollection, which so richly illuminated with memories of His mercy, and we will soon be happy. When the Divine Comforter bends memory to His service, it is then the greatest earthly comfort we can know.” C. H. Spurgeon

“Strive believer not to seek refuge in anything or anyone besides the Lord our God. All else will surely be found wanting. It is He Who is the Rock that is greater than all. It is He Who is sufficient to meet our every need. It is He Who gives our feet a firm place to stand when the winds of life blow hard. Look to Jesus alone – all else is fleeting. Why go to the paste gem when the diamond is so readily offered?” BHY

“A fixed, constant attention to the promises, and a firm belief in them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the several troubles of life….Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” Samuel Clarke

“Be not dismayed, but go to Him who is the God of all comfort, who comforteth all those that are bowed down, and He will give you a word which shall heal your wounds, and breathe peace into your spirit.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“In our walk with God we are told explicitly by Christ Himself that it would be His Spirit who would be sent to guide us and to lead us into all truth (John 16:13). This same gracious Spirit takes the truth of God, the Word of God, and makes it plain to our hearts and minds and spiritual understanding. It is He who gently, tenderly, but persistently says to us, ‘This is the way – walk in it.’ And as we comply and cooperate with His gentle promptings a sense of safety, comfort and well-being envelops us.” Phillip Keller

“All disquiet of mind ariseth from our own lusts and unmortified tempers, which make the bosom like a troubled sea. And no settled calm shall we find till we have a single eye to God’s glory, and can count ourselves worthy of no good. Then we may draw comfort out of trouble, and learn to praise the Lord, both for what he giveth, and for what he taketh away; being sure that all things are working for our good, and tending to God’s glory, which he knows best how to promote; and that nothing but sin can make us unhappy and miserable.” K. H. Von Bogatzky

“Christianity simply does not make sense until you face the sort of facts I have been describing. Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know that they have anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a real moral law and a power behind the law and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that power – It is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk…(Christianity) tells you how the demands of this law, which you and I cannot meet, have been met on our behalf. How God himself becomes a man to save man from the disapproval of God. It is an old story…All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts – to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer. And they are very terrifying facts. I wish it was possible to say something more agreeable. But I must say what I think true. Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run a thing of unspeakable comfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I am describing and it is no use at all to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: If you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth. – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end despair.” CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

“They do not go wrong who go in the company of God. Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you. ‘The LORD’ – note the word – ‘The LORD will guide you always.” Charles H. Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received.
• His presence brings comfort to the believer in Jesus.
• God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

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MY STRENGTH AND MY SONG

BREAD

2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:2 (NIV)

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 (NIV)

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 (NIV)

1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)

16 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. 17 O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. Psalm 59:16-17 (NIV)

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:4-7 (NIV)

2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.” Isaiah 12:2-5 (NIV)

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 11:32 – 12:3 (NIV)

BUTTER

“When God is our strength, it is strength indeed; when our strength is our own, it is only weakness.” St. Augustine

“A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God’s warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, ‘I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my conquering sword shall get unto me the victory’, defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own strength. He who reckoneth on victory thus has reckoned wrongly, for ‘it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts’. They who go forth to fight, boasting of their prowess, shall return with their gay banners trailed in the dust, and their armour stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve Him in His own way, and in His strength, or He will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth He casteth away; He will only reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love. God will empty out all that thou hast before He will put His own into thee; He will first clean out the granaries before He will fill them with the finest of the wheat……Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.” C. H. Spurgeon

“In God’s hands intended evil becomes eventual good. Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph’s heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. The torn robe became a royal one. The pit became a palace. The broken family grew old together. The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant turned out to strengthen him.” Max Lucado

“There is in Him an all-sufficiency of grace and strength; all our springs are in Him, and all our streams are from Him.” Matthew Henry

“Our strength is discovered in our dependency upon the One Who spoke the world into being and Who loves us with an everlasting love. It is His all sufficient power and not our weak strength we are to lean upon. The horse is made ready for battle but victory rests with the Lord.” BHY

“I have not given you the spirit of fear but of a sound mind. Therefore today I call you Fearless, the way I called Gideon a valiant warrior when he was afraid to fight. I am the same God who gave Gideon the strength to win his battle with the enemy, and I am your God. The only time something will overtake your heart is if you take your eyes off Me. I don’t want you bound up in terror. As long as you are walking in My power and Truth, you have nothing to be afraid of, and no matter what it looks like now, Victory will always be yours. So fear not, my beloved; I will never leave your side–day and night I am fighting for you. Love, Your King who removes all fear.” Sheri Rose Shepherd

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Hudson Taylor

“The strength of the vessel can be demonstrated only by the hurricane, and the power of the gospel can be fully shown only when the Christian is subjected to some fiery trial. If God would make manifest the fact that ‘He giveth songs in the night,’ He must first make it night.” William Taylor

“See God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou doest see! It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if Christ, as Lord and Master of our life, is brought into our grief and gloom, ‘He will compass us about with songs of deliverance.’ To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say, in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessing they bring us. Nothing else will completely put an end to all murmuring or rebelling thoughts.” Hannah W. Smith

“The foundational principle of grace is that God’s kingdom priorities are completely inverted from those of the world. God’s plan is to magnify His saving mercy and grace not through human strength but rather through its weakness…The gospel of grace would remind us that we can’t be used until we operate not out of our own strength but in weakness, as we depend on Christ’s Spirit to show the reality of the cross.” Paul Kooistra

“Despair whispers, ‘Lie down and die; give it all up.’… But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What if for a while thou art called to stand still; yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time.” Charles H. Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• God puts a new song in my mouth – a hymn of praise to our God.
• I will sing of the Lord for He alone is worthy of praise.
• All power and all might are His alone – when He acts who can reverse it?

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Lovingly Blessed 10.22.18

LOVINGLY BLESSED

BREAD

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV)

22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:22-27 (NIV)

1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. 5 May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, 6 and may you live to see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel. Psalm 128:1-6 (NIV)

1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. 2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. 5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. 7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. 9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor. 10 The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing. Psalm 112:1-10 (NIV)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)

BUTTER

“God alone can bless His people, keep them, look on them with favor (make His face shine and turn His face toward them), be gracious to them, and give them peace.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary

“As long as we meddle with any kind of sin we shall never clearly see the blessed face of our Lord.” Julian of Norwich

“We came into this world wretched, miserable, and undone creatures, in cruel bondage to sin and Satan, under guilt and under wrath, hostile toward God—the fountain of blessedness—and in a state of condemnation leading to everlasting destruction. But when a man is converted, he is brought out of that state of woe and misery into a sure title to glory, honor, and peace forever. When once a man is converted, all this blessedness that we have heard of is his; he has an absolute right to it. God’s work is accomplished for it; His faithful promise is given.” Jonathan Edwards

“The Beatitudes are conditional promises of blessing. Letting Jesus work His character in us is the condition; blessedness is the promise. Pray for yourself, that you will enjoy the blessing of being the person God wants you to be, as God molds you in the character of His beloved and well-pleasing Son.” Sylvia Gunter

“Blessed are the single-hearted; for they shall enjoy much peace.” Thomas a Kempis

“God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness.” Billy Graham

“Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, ‘It is I, be not afraid.’ He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, ‘If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.’ ‘We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.’ The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, ‘Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children.’” C. H. Spurgeon

“We must remember that God will never drag us along the path of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly lack the moral excellency which characterizes all the ways of God. He does not drag, but draws us along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness in Himself; and if we do see that it is for our real advantage to break through all the barriers of nature, in order to respond to Gods’ call, we forsake our own mercies. But alas! Our hearts little enter into this. We begin to calculate about the sacrifices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded in our ears”. C H Macintosh

“What is ‘good’? Just as Pilate asked Jesus ‘What is Truth?’ while all the while looking straight at Truth Incarnate, we as humans often misconstrue ‘What is good?’ and end up missing out on God’s best by ‘kicking against the goads’ and not walking in His ways. We so often buy into what the world believes as good. Do we believe it’s all about more – More clothes in the closet? More comforts in the den? More money in the bank? More health in the body? More buildings, marquees, publications or whatever’s bearing our names? More children in the home? And on and on and on it goes. “Good” is not merely “wants”. “Good” can be as varied as the people who populate this dusty earth. Simply put, ‘good’ is always God’s best for a life. The Maker of all humankind has a plan for each life and our best is always to walk in it – be it ever so hard. His will is revealed in a myriad of ways from His Word, from the Holy Spirit’s promptings Who indwells every true believer in Christ, from prayer and petition with thanksgiving, from fellow sojourners – why God can even use a donkey or a great big fish! And believe me, you always want to be in the center of His will as it is good and pleasing and perfect. Don’t fight against God’s best because it is hard. Allow Him to conform you to the image of Christ. We are the ultimate losers if we don’t. It is the life of true blessedness.” BHY

“The height of joy isn’t simply to be blessed — but to become the blessing. The height of joy isn’t to have blessings actualized — but to become the actual blessing. Not to be blessed with stuff — but to become the blessing in service.” Ann Voskamp

“Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated. We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to ‘all these words.’ There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children. The Lord’s blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed.” Charles H. Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• God delights in blessing His people who walk in His ways. His is the path of blessedness.
• There is much blessing in being conformed into the image of Christ though costly, priceless.
• His character within the jars of clay of His creature is being lovingly blessed.

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Whoever 10.19.18

WHOEVER

BREAD

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 (NIV)

31 “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:31-36 (NIV)

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (NIV)

24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24 (NIV)

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:35-40 (NIV)

47 “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:47-51 (NIV)

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:37-39 (NIV)

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Oh! that I had a trumpet voice to warn you. Oh! while you are dying, while you are sinking into perdition, may I not cry to you; may not these eyes weep for you! Take to heart, I beseech you, the realities of eternity. Oh, turn, turn! Why will you die? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“I was the enemy of God. I was stamping through God’s universe, shaking my fist in His face. And in the very moment when I was shaking my fist in God’s face and tramping through the Creator’s universe, muddying all His streams, that’s when Jesus died for me. And if this is when Jesus died for me, what hope it gives me now! Now, even when I fall, the blood of Jesus is enough. He didn’t save me because I was strong; He saved me when I was weak. He didn’t save me when I was a pretty thing; He saved me when I was a mess. On the basis of this reality, I can have comfort.” Francis Schaeffer

“Religion is, ‘I obey, therefore I’m accepted’. The Gospel is, ‘I’m accepted through what Jesus Christ has done for me, therefore I obey’. Religion gives you control, that’s why it’s so popular…If I am saved by what I can do, then there’s a limit to what God can ask of me. I still have some control. But if I am saved by sheer grace, then there’s nothing He cannot ask of me”. Tim Keller

“The gospel…should be seen as not only a message of good news for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, but also a message of good news for Christian people to be saved from sin’s domineering power. The goal of the gospel is not merely to forgive us, but to change us into true worshippers of God and authentic lovers of people.” Dr. Steve Childers

“Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren’t righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone.” Martin Luther

“What are believers saved from? From their former position under the wrath of God, the dominion of sin, and the power of death; from their natural condition of being mastered by the world, the flesh and the devil; from the fears that a sinful life engenders, and from the many vicious habits that were part of it. How are believers saved from these things? Through Christ, and in Christ. Our salvation involves first, Christ dying for us and second, Christ living in us and we living in Christ, united with Him in His death and risen life. This vital union, which is sustained by the Spirit from the divine side and by faith from our side, and which is formed in and through our new birth, presupposes covenantal union in the sense of our eternal election in Christ.” J I Packer

“God is far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved.” J. C. Ryle

“Someone asked ‘Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved?’ It is more a question — Whether we — who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved.” Charles Spurgeon

“You can have a saved soul and a lost life.” Alan Redpath

“No matter what happens in life, remember this: You have a Savior. As a Christian, you have been saved from death. You have been saved from eternal punishment and hell. You have the hope that when you die, you will go straight to heaven. That is the most important thing about the Christian life. There is a Heaven waiting for you. You have a Savior.” Greg Laurie

“There is a difference between brokenness over one’s sin and living in shame for the rest of our days. A broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise. This means one agrees with the Lord that the sin was wrong and desires not to continue on in it. It is a turning from it into the ways of the Lord through His power, for His glory, for our good. This leads to peace with God which passes all understanding not continued shame over the transgression. Guilt is Satan’s trademark and often keeps the forgiven believer paralyzed in their walk with the Lord believing themselves to be unworthy to be used in kingdom work or even approach the throne of grace through prayer. If Satan can’t keep us from being saved, he desires to keep us from being used and from feeling the comfort of God’s love and forgiveness. Believers are accepted in the Beloved.” BHY

“From beginning to end, our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God. He began a good work in us, and he will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). In the same way that he saved us, he will ultimately complete us—by grace, through faith, and in Christ, so that God alone might receive the glory.” Scott Sauls

“For eighty-six years I have served Him. He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? The fire you threaten burns for a time and is soon extinguished; there is a fire you know nothing about—the fire of the judgment to come and of eternal punishment, the fire reserved for the ungodly. But why do you hesitate? Do what you want.” Polycarp

“We have a God who sees hearts like we see faces, a God who hears ache like we hear voices, and we have a God who touches wounds like we touch skin. No one’s crazy can change God’s crazy love. Jesus died to save us not to make us safe. No one ever got saved unless someone else was unsafe.” Ann Voskamp

“What if believing meant there’s no way you could stop telling the Good News because it’s more sensational than gossip that parades as news? What if shying away from the word sin so as not to offend, offends a Holy God — and what if being culturally correct leads a whole generation a wrong shy of heaven? What if breaking this addiction of talking about problems could break new ground of talking about our Provider? That we couldn’t stop sharing about how we’ve been saved, rescued, redeemed, revived?” Ann Voskamp

“Now when a man has learned through the commandments to recognize his helplessness and is distressed about how he might satisfy the law…and then being truly humbled and reduced to nothing in his own eyes, he finds in himself nothing whereby he may be justified and saved. Here the second part of Scripture comes to our aid, namely, the promises of God which declare the glory of God, saying, ‘If you wish to fulfill the law….come, believe in Christ in whom grace, righteousness, peace, liberty, and all things are promised to you. If you believe you shall have all things; if you do not believe, you shall lack all things’.” Martin Luther

“The word of the Lord was not ‘When I see your faith,’ but ‘when I see the blood, I will pass over you.’ O soul, if you trust Christ, the blood is on your brow today; before the eye of God there is no condemnation. Why, then, do you need to fear? You are safe, for the blood secures every soul that once is sheltered thereby. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, but if you believe not, trust where you may, you shall be damned.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“I keep trying to find a life, on my own apart from You. I am the king of excuses, I’ve got one for every selfish thing I do. What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior. This only serves to confirm my suspicions that I’m still a man in need of a Savior…O Lord be my Light and my Salvation. The disease of the self runs through my blood, like cancer fatal to the soul. Every attempt on my behalf has failed, to keep the sickness under control…Lord be my Light and be my salvation.” Charlie Peacock

“Who among us does not need grace? Who among us does not long for merciful loving-kindness? Who among us does not need forgiveness? Every morning get up and teach yourself the Gospel – we all are sinners in need of a Savior – and be ever so thankful that we have One.” BHY

“To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, ‘Come to me and rest’. But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, ‘Go, labor on,’ as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, ‘Come to me and rest.’ Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, ‘Come, come, come.’ Hudson Taylor

“Dear friends, we are naturally so entirely ruined, that if saved the whole work must be of God, and the whole glory must crown the head of the Triune Jehovah.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.” A.W. Tozer

“We cannot be our own Savior neither in whole nor in part.” Anonymous

“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” John Newton

HEART SAVOR

• Jesus saves and Jesus alone.
• Everyone needs a Savior – we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Come to Jesus.

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The End Goal Of Suffering 10.17.18

THE END GOAL OF SUFFERING

BREAD

2 And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:2-5 (NIV)

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” Hebrews 10:36-38 (NIV)

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:3-7 (NIV)

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:8-11 (NIV)

11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:17-18 (NIV)

29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Philippians 1:29-30 (NIV)

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:28-29 (NIV)

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Calvary is God’s great proof that suffering in the will of God always leads to glory.” Warren Wiersbe

“Seriously, who wants to be known as ‘Shallow Hal’? Yet sadly, many who claim faith in Christ fall into the mile wide and an inch-deep category. This is not of God’s choosing. He desires for us to grow up in Christ – to be conformed to the image of his Son – and He often uses our tribulations to bring this about. That is His chosen instrument. Sometimes this is excruciatingly painful – more often than not. Remember as well, in this fallen and broken world, pain comes to all. There are no exceptions. But as believers our pain has purpose. Pain is also relative as you most likely know. A coffee stain on a white skirt can be as devastating to some as a bad diagnosis – go figure…If tribulation, then, is inevitable should we not prayerfully seek the purpose for it and grow up, look up, or grow nearer, if you will, in Christ? As believers, we are never more like our Savior as when we walk the path of suffering and sacrifice. And whether we are discerners of this or not the more like Christ we are the more satisfied we will be. Remember, too, God’s grace is always sufficient to meet every need. Every. Need.” BHY

“All my sufferings served to promote my spiritual and eternal good. Glory be to thee, O Lord.” Susannah Wesley

“The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality, it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is hunting for pearls.” Richter

“God shapes our character through suffering giving us a greater understanding of Who He is and who we are.” BHY

“Each adopted child of the Lord is going to receive the full inheritance. Everything that Jesus Christ received by divine right, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are going to receive by divine grace…..Whatever problem you are facing today that is making you groan, He is turning your groaning into glory. All the pain and all the hurt and all the suffering and all the agony, all the disappointment and all the dashed hopes and shattered dreams, all the insults and all the rejection, are all nothing when it comes to the Father’s glory that you will one day inherit. You can’t even begin to compare them. Test and rejoice in the Truth that the Spirit of God is giving you the ultimate victory, He is guaranteeing and sealing your adoption, and He is turning your groaning into glory.” Michael Youssef

“Suffering is the crucible the Divine Blacksmith uses to form us into the image of Christ. Apart from God’s grace suffering is deformative. For the believer, our suffering is accomplishing something. Suffering well takes practice. We must learn to pray our pain, sing our sorrows and lean into the comfort of community. God uses our suffering for the greater good of others. We suffer to share the One that suffered to save.” Jonathan Darville

“My hope is not in a cure today. My hope is not the absence of suffering and comfort returned. My hope is in the presence of the One who promises never to leave or forsake, the One who declares nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God.” (Romans 8:39). Nothing. Your story is a good story. In the grief, pain and hard, the Author has a plan. It may feel like a desperate breaking of your very heart, but suffering is not the absence of God or good.” Kara Tippetts

“Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger…these are nothing when compared with the glory that will be revealed in, and for us.” David Livingstone

“The strangest truth of the gospel is that redemption comes through suffering.” Milo Chapman

“What if suffering didn’t leave us questioning God — but left us seeing that God is always the answer?” Ann Voskamp

“Tribulation is necessary for the decentralization of self and the development of deep dimensions of agape love, this love can be developed only in the school of suffering. It grows and develops only by exercise and testing. This may explain the relationship between sainthood and suffering by showing why there is no sainthood without suffering. It may also show why the greatest saints are often the greatest suffers.” Paul E. Billheimer

“Suffering isn’t a mistake and isn’t the absence of God’s goodness — because He’s present in pain.” Kara Tippetts

“No one ever becomes a saint without suffering because suffering, properly accepted, is the pathway to glory.” Paul E. Billheimer

“When God doesn’t prevent suffering, He gives us perspective on suffering. Sometimes you just have to get a ‘God’s-eye’ view to see that the master potter is scooping up all the rubble and ruin from your low place to mold and create good in your life. His love reaches down into the dirt – what you may think is utter defeat or hopeless – and lifts you to see that He can turn what you may view as worthless into something worthwhile. God can take what we think is worthless and turn it into something worthwhile. Often, when we’re down, all we can see is the valley, the wasteland – we feel like our lives are a mess. But our loving God does not see us and our low places that way. The stuff you think may be just too messy, too ugly, too far gone is the stuff God is infusing with purpose. The sorrow that hurts you? God fashions it into faith that sustains you. The sin you’re ashamed of? God uses it to create beautiful humility. The failures you regret? God turns them into wisdom. The grief that shattered your heart? God crafts that into unshakable faith. The missed opportunities? God uses those to make you reflect His grace. The loss you never expected? God molds that into strength you can’t explain. God can make your low place a stepping stone to climb higher with Him. He can take even the worst things in your life – the injustice, defeat, abandonment or failure – to create the best for you, His beloved child.” Jennifer Rothschild

“Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great character. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering….Someday, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and molding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder.” Cortland Myers

“There was no way out but through. These sufferings result in new life being born from the old. Jesus speaks of grief and pain as temporary sorrows that will at some point give way to new life and joy. Birth pangs must happen so that new life can be birthed.” Aubry Smith

“You exist because God wanted you to exist and you are who you are, what you are, how you are, where you are, and when you are because God made you (John 1:3), wove you in your mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13), called you to be his own (John 10:27); (Romans 8:30), and assigned you a life to live (1 Corinthians 7:17). And this infuses your entire life — its good and evil, its sweet and bitter, it’s health and affliction, its prosperity and poverty, its comfort and suffering — with an unfathomable dignity, purpose, and glory.” Jon Bloom

HEART SAVOR

• Troubles are a given in this fallen world – so is God’s grace sufficient to meet each need of His children.
• Tribulations have purpose for the child of the King.
• God is in the business of conforming us into the image of His sons and He more often than not uses our trials to accomplish this end.

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Think About These Things 10.15.18

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

BREAD

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)

17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:17-20 (NIV)

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24 (NIV)

4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8 (NIV)

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)

23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)

15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the mind, to the understanding.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Belief is truth held in the mind; faith is fire in the heart.” John Henry Newman

“Our words and works are always an overflow of what is in our hearts and thoughts. If you desire right speech and actions, work on your heart and mind.” BHY

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. Commend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in His bosom. Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God……Maintain a holy simplicity of mind, and do not smother yourself with a host of cares, wishes, or longings, under any pretext.” St. Francis de Sales

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating. A person’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, than an abundance of useless seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.” James Allen

“Don’t meditate excessively on what you’ve done, right or wrong; both of these activities keep your mind on you! Center your thoughts on Christ.” Anonymous

“All love…casts the mind into the mold of the thing beloved.” John Owen

“Grant, Almighty God, that as You have made known Your law, and have also added Your gospel, in which You call us to Your service, and also have invited us with all kindness to partake of Your grace; O grant, that we may not be deaf, either to Your command or to the promises of Your mercy, but render ourselves submissive to You everywhere, and so learn to devote all our faculties to You, that we may in truth avow that the rule of a holy and religious life, has been delivered to us in Your law, and that we may firmly adhere to Your promises, lest through any of the allurements of the world, or through the flatteries and delusions of Satan, You should suffer our minds to be drawn away from that love which You have once for all manifested to us in Your only begotten Son, and in which You daily confirm to us by the teaching of the gospel, until we at length shall come to the full enjoyment of this love in that celestial inheritance, which has been purchased for us by the blood of Your only Son.” John Calvin

“Belief is a truth held in the mind. Faith is a fire in the heart.” Joseph Fort Newton

“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’. Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! Let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.” C. H. Spurgeon

“Let us never forget that the message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the mind, to the understanding.” Martyn Lloyd Jones

“Sanctification is the mind coming more and more under the Holy Spirit’s control.” David Jackman

“The weapon of repentance, through rejection of false beliefs and affirmation of godly truth, has changed thousands of lives. Repentance can liberate the mind and destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5) And it can help us discover the wondrous significance we have in Jesus Christ: We are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally acceptable, and complete in Him. Our journey is a joyous and challenging adventure with Christ.” Robert McGee

“O, God, my Father in heaven I bless you and thank you for the life I have in Christ. I submit my mind and emotions to you so that I believe your Word and obey your instructions. I open my mind to receive, to study and to understand your Word just as you intended the original readers to understand it and practice it. I want to be obedient to you and to your Word today, especially to love you with all my heart and to love my neighbor as I love myself and to love my spouse as Christ loved the Church. Teach me clearly, in and by the context of your Word, what you want me to be and to do. I want to teach others what you are teaching me and train them how to correctly study and obey your Word and how to effectively use their spiritual gifts to bear lasting fruit so you are glorified.” Bert Banzhaf

“Since I know I have nothing I have not received – I can’t even claim the breath in my lungs – all things come from His loving and good hands – all things. I am to be grateful. I must train my mind and my mouth to be perpetually thankful for all that He has given me. God delights in the praise of His people.” BHY

“A fixed, constant attention to the promises, and a firm belief in them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the several troubles of life….Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” Samuel Clarke

HEART SAVOR

• I am to keep my mind on things above – if I am too earthly minded I will be of no heavenly good.
• My words and actions will reflect my heart and mind.
• Believers have the mind of Christ through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

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Pursue The Marrow Of Life 10.12.18

PURSUE THE MARROW OF LIFE

BREAD

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NIV)

10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)

18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him–for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work–this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 (NIV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV)

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6 (NIV)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (NIV)

20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV)

15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (NIV)

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:10-13 (NIV)

1 Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” 3 As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. 5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:1-11 (NIV)

12 “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The marrow of life is not in our possessions or titles or degrees or anything else that will pass away with this age. The marrow is found in the man Christ Jesus and the mission he has given us. All transitory gifts God provides are for us to enjoy and for us to employ in the mission he calls us to (1 Timothy 6:17-19). But if we look to these things for life’s marrow, we will find them hollow bones.” Jon Bloom

“Popular morality is now a wasteland, littered with the debris of broken convictions…. So our young people go riding down the highroad to hell in an atmosphere that would make any self-respecting animal sick to its stomach, and no one thinks that matters are as bad as they seem….The answer is not simply in passing more laws. It is to be found in regeneration by His Spirit, who alone can set men’s souls on fire with a divinely sent thirst for greater purity, both for the individual and the good judgment of the body. Apart from such spiritual burning and purging, men sink beneath the weight and corruption of their own sin.” Anonymous

“No one in heaven envies the rich of this world. No one covets the famous. No one praises the powerful. They have discovered what it means to ‘live deep and suck all the marrow out of life.’ They have found that which is truly life: Jesus Christ.” Jon Bloom

“There is something, Someone, right and good to hold on to. There is a worthy treasure; a valuable pearl. There is a Precious that is life giving and promise keeping. Jesus is the True Precious who actually holds onto us. Instead of poisoning us, he gives us life. Instead of diminishing us, he makes us flourish. Instead of ensnaring us, he sets us free. It is Jesus who holds us and who we hold above all else.” Scott Sauls

“He is present and precious to His own.” Hudson Taylor

“You will see at once from reading the text (Philippians 4:11), upon the very surface, that contentment in all states is not a natural propensity of man. Ill weeds grow apace; covetousness, discontent, and murmuring, are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. You have no need to sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth, upon which rests the curse; so you have no need to teach men to complain, they complain fast enough without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we would have wheat, we must plough and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener’s care. Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it — you are in prison, the prison of want. Paul says that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Tim. 6:6 NIV). When we surrender to God the cumbersome sack of discontent, we don’t just give up something; we gain something. God replaces it with a lightweight, tailor-made, sorrow-resistant attaché́ of gratitude. What will you gain with contentment? You may gain your marriage. You may gain precious hours with your children. You may gain your self-respect. You may gain joy. You may gain the faith to say, ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ Try saying it slowly. ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ Again, ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ Again, ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.’” Max Lucado

“The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“In a world that tries to crush us with complication and overwhelm, desire this simple truth – in learning to be with people as Jesus was, we’ll discover the abundant life.” Shannan Martin

“When the love of Jesus captivates us, and when we begin to see him as our True Precious, our hearts will naturally, and quite effortlessly, love him first and to love him most. This will lead us to hold everything else loosely, no longer desperately tightening our grip. And yet, when we loosen our grip on these things, our loving Jesus sometimes has a way of giving them all back to us—and in an even greater, more healthy measure than before.” Scott Sauls

“We are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them.” Julian of Norwich

HEART SAVOR

• We will never know if He is our all until He is our all.
• The pursuit in the further knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is always for our very best. He is the marrow of life. He alone satisfies the human soul totally, completely, absolutely, abundantly. There is no Jesus plus anything else to fill our cups – it is simply Jesus. That is why Paul so strongly declares in Philippians: 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV). Such a pursuit of Paul’s is so well worth our emulation.
• Our lives do not consist in the abundance of the created rather in the abundance of the Creator.

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The Love Of God 10.10.18

THE LOVE OF GOD

BREAD

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 (NIV)

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:5-11 (NIV)

3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. Hosea 11:4 (NIV)

17 “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:9-11 (NIV)

1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3 (NIV)

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (NIV)

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

BUTTER

“In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope.” Tim Keller

“Doubt not His grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that He loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness.” Charles Spurgeon

“No sea is deeper than the ocean of His love. There is no army stronger than His hosts, no force greater than His throne of grace, no enemy who can overcome His direct and indirect work in our lives.” Robert J. Morgan

“I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that is all in love. Well, if He is glorified, I am content.” J. Hudson Taylor

“God delights in His covenant and so we are sure He will not turn back from it. It is the joy of His holy heart. He delights to do His people good. To pass over transgression, iniquity, and sin is the recreation of Jehovah. Did you ever hear God singing? It is extraordinary that the Divine One would solace Himself with song, yet a prophet has thus revealed the Lord to us: ‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zephaniah 3:17). The covenant is the heart of God written out in the blood of Jesus.” Charles Spurgeon

“Our Creator is infinitely good, and His will is love: to submit to one who is ‘too wise to err, too good to be unkind,’ should not be hard.” C.H. Spurgeon

“Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.” Oswald Chambers

“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter fairer be. O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be. O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee. I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.” George Matheson

“He who is filled with love is filled with God Himself.” Augustine

“A perfect man would never act from sense of duty…Duty is only a substitute for love.” C.S. Lewis

“Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art.” Charles Wesley

“Love Him totally who gave Himself totally for your love.” Claire of Assisi

“God loves you as though you are the only person in the world, and He loves everyone the way He loves you.” Augustine

“For the love of God is broader than the measures of man’s mind; and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.” Frederick William Faber

“God’s love is always supernatural, always a miracle, always the last thing we deserve.” Robert Horn

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Anna Bartlett Warner

“When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun. His love has no limit; His grace has no measure. His pow’r has no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!” Annie Johnson

“All the commandments of God are commandments of love tending to our real good and great happiness; far from being grievous to those who have faith and love, the practice thereof is life and peace. The world may think it a grievous burden; but this is a great mistake indeed. Sin is grievous. In hatred, envy, anger, revenge, pride, there is nothing but torment and slavery; but in love there is a sweet rest and pleasure. Thus a sinner always punishes himself, and is robbed of great peace and blessing, by transgressing the commandments of God.” K. H. Von Bogatzky

“God soon turns from His wrath, but He never turns from His love.” Charles Spurgeon

“Human love is capable of great things. What then must be the depth and height and intensity of divine love?” Lord Shaftesbury

“His love is unfailing, His Word unchangeable, His power ever the same; therefore the heart that trusts Him is kept in ‘perfect peace’…I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love. Well, if He is glorified, I am content.” Hudson Taylor

“Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?” Charles Wesley

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus. Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love, leading onward, leading homeward, to my glorious rest above! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, never more! How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own; how for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! ‘Tis an ocean full of blessing, ‘tis a haven giving rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ‘tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me; and it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!” Samuel Trevor Francis

HEART SAVOR

• God loves me with an everlasting love and everything He allows in my life is for my ultimate good and His glory never one surpassing the other – I serve an amazing God.
• Nothing separates us from the love of Christ – nothing.
• God disciplines those He love. Indeed, discipline is a sign of God’s love. A harvest of righteousness and peace is the result for those who have been trained by it.

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