Cultivate Kindness 11.30.20

CULTIVATE KINDNESS

BREAD

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.   Colossians 3:12-14 (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. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Galatians 5:22-26 (NIV)

¹ Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. ² He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. ⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.   Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”  ⁶ Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷ Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down. ⁸ Esau asked, “What do you mean by all these droves I met?”  “To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.  ⁹ But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”  ¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.  Genesis 33:1-11 (NIV)

¹⁷ A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.  Proverbs 11:17 (NIV)

³¹ He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.  Proverbs 14:31 (NIV)

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Luke 6:32-36 (NIV)

¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.  1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NIV)

²² Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.  2 Timothy 2:22-26 (NIV)

⁷ I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us– yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.   Isaiah 63:7 (NIV)

BUTTER

“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

“Be Kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”   Anonymous

“Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.”  Anonymous

“Every act of kindness and compassion done by any man for his fellow Christian is done by Christ working within him.”   Julian of Norwich

“I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.”   Mother Teresa

“Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, and learning.”  Frederick Faber

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”     St. Basil

“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

“Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness.”   Isaac of Syria

“It is much easier and delightful to build rather than to mend people.  Do-overs in a life always carry with it such icky consequences that most don’t factor in until  it is too late and they are face to face with them.  Also, don’t arrogantly think for a minute that you will not ever need a voice of wisdom and reason either.  Do your part to help others on their way, to strengthen the saint and to help them to stand.  We do this through His power and always for His glory and our good.”  BHY 

“When arrogant people who know they deserve eternal misery tremble before a holy God of passionate wrath, they discover grace.  They encounter the depths of God’s kindness and love, a kindness and love they find nowhere else.  They fall to their knees and worship Christ as their Lord and Savior and as their truest friend, really their only true friend.  They know they don’t deserve a hug, no matter how badly they’re hurting; but they get an eternal one anyway.  That’s the grace that takes their breath away.”   Larry Crabb

“There is only one rescuer I know,” I told Sonia and the rest of the women, “with the power to free us from the darkest prison. That rescuer is the God I love, who loves us so much he left everything to come for us, to free us. He is the one who made us, each of us, for a unique purpose and a magnificent destiny. He makes right what the world makes wrong. His plans are for good, not for evil. His ways are straight and merciful. He came to give me a hope and a future — and to give you one too. His promises are true. His love is full of forgiveness and peace, joy and kindness, grace. He is the true rescuer. He saves us from any prison, whether physical or emotional or spiritual, the ones we’re forced into and the ones we fall into on our own. He chooses us. He can make all things new. He loves us without condition, unrelentingly, forever. He loves us broken, and he loves making us whole again. And he asks those of us who love him to love others the same way. To choose them. To be agents of his hope, his forgiveness, his grace. He asks us to join him in rescuing others.  “That’s why I’m here,” I said. “That’s why I’ve come……………“If what you are telling me is true,” she yelled, “if what you say about your God is true — then where were you? Where have you been? Why didn’t you come sooner?  Why didn’t you come sooner?  I would not offer excuses…”   From Undaunted by Christine Caine

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”   Mother Teresa

HEART SAVOR

• Be kind and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love to everyone in your path.  Make it your goal to leave the aroma of Christ in every encounter.
• Kindness costs you nothing except perhaps denial of self.
• Seek to be known as a kind person rather than a person who is always right.

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Satisfied 11.27.20

SATISFIED

BREAD

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  ² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  ³ Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”   Isaiah 55:1-3 (NIV)

The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.  ¹⁴ The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.  ¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. ¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. Psalms 145:13-17 (NIV)

² I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  ³ Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  ⁴ I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.  Psalms 63:2-5 (NIV)

²⁴ How many are your works, O LORD!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. ²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number–living things both large and small. ²⁶ There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. ²⁷ These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.  ²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.   Psalms 104:24-28 (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)

¹⁵ That everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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 3:15-17 (NIV)

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Ephesians 1:15-23 (NIV)

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  ² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, ⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalms 103:1-5 (NIV)

¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  Psalms 90:14 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones… The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers… By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5)… because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.”   John Flavel

“When faith has the upper hand in my heart I am satisfied with Christ and His promises.  This is what Jesus meant when He said, ‘He who believed in Me shall never thirst’ (John 6:35).  When my thirst for joy and meaning and passion are satisfied by the presence and promises of Christ, the power of sin is broken.  We do not yield to the offer of sandwich meat when we can smell steak sizzling on the grill.  The fight of faith against lust is the fight to stay satisfied with God.”  John Piper

“Desire only God, and your heart will be satisfied.”   Augustine

“We are not satisfied that thou shouldst be anything less than king; our heart’s desire is, ‘Reign, gracious God over us and over all men.”   Charles Spurgeon

“What, sirs, is your wisdom? Your wisdom dwells in denying what your eyes can see—a God; in denying what your consciences tell you—that you are guilty; in denying what should be your best hope, what your spirit really craves after—redemption in Christ Jesus. Your folly lies in following a perverted nature, instead of obeying the dictates of one who points you to the right path. You are wise and you drink poison; we are fools and we take the antidote. You are wise and you hunt the shadow; we are fools and we grasp the substance. You are wise, and you labour and put your money into a bag which is full of holes, and spend it for that which is not bread, and which never gives you satisfaction; and we are fools enough to be satisfied, to be happy, to be perfectly content with heaven and God.”  Charles H. Spurgeon

“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.  To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.  Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows, but God is the substance.  These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun.  These are but streams.  But God is the ocean.”   Jonathan Edwards 

“He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore.  The believer is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in Christ such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy.  Put him in a dungeon and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, he will meet the ‘friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’  Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord.  The heart is as insatiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing.  There is such a fullness in Christ that He alone is the believer’s all.  The true saint is so completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more – except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Inauspiciously, a prayer meeting in Antioch in Acts 13:1-3 became one of the most important moments in the history of the world. With their prayers and fasting, the church leaders said, God, we want your provision, not our small plans. We want your abundance, not our small-mindedness. We want more than we know how to ask, more than we can think, more than we could expect, more than we can dream. We want you, God. We’re not satisfied with abilities and experience and what we can plan on our own and do apart from you. We want you and your leading. We don’t want to lean on our own understanding.”  David Mathis

“God is the happiness of man because of His suitableness to the soul.  A hungry man finds his stomach craving. Give him music or honour and he is hungry still.  These are not suitable to his appetite.  Give him food and his craving is over.  So it is with a man’s soul.  Give it honour, profits, and the pleasures of the world, and these cannot abate its desire; it craves still.  These do not answer the soul’s nature, and therefore cannot answer its needs.  Set God before it just once, and let it feed on Him; it is satisfied, and its inordinate, dogged appetite after the world is cured.  Tasting this manna tramples on the onions of Egypt.  God is the true happiness of the soul because He is an eternal good.  As the sun never sets, so the soul that rests in God has an eternal Sabbath.  Outward mercies, in which most place their happiness, are like floods that swell high and make a great noise, but are quickly over.  The blessed God is like the spring that bubbles forth and runs over forever.  This all-sufficient, suitable, and eternal God is the saint’s peculiar portion, and therefore causes infinite satisfaction.”   George Swinnock    

“Amid all this chaos of a confused, sick society, Christ comes quietly as of old and invites us to come to Him.  He invites us to follow Him.  He invites us to put our confidence in Him.  For He it is who best knows how we can be satisfied.  He knows that the human heart, the human personality, the human soul with its amazing capacity for God can never be satisfied with a substitute.  Only the Spirit and life of Christ Himself will satisfy the thirsting soul.”  Phillip Keller  

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”   John Piper

HEART SAVOR

• God satisfies fully and completely – we are not found wanting.
• The world is loud and says we need more of everything yet God whispers in His still, small voice:  “All you need is Me.”
• When a cup overflows in a life we are no longer needy and further have something to give to the thirsty.

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Seek A Posture Of Gratefulness 11.25.20

SEEK A POSTURE OF GRATEFULNESS

BREAD

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Romans 1:21-23 (NIV)

²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)

⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?   1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)

⁷ “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. ⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. ⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”   Psalms 50:7-15 (NIV)

¹⁶ Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:15-17 (NIV)

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.   Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.  ² Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  ³ Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  ⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.  Psalms 100:1-5 (NIV)

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. ² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  Psalms 95:1-2 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Gratitude is not an option for believers who want to splash in waves of grace…God commands His followers to be thankful.  Some spend a lot of time wondering about God’s will for their lives. We can be absolutely certain of at least one aspect of His divine will: we are to be thankful! We are to give thanks! In all things!”  Ellen Vaughn

“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

“We must persist in being thankful.  When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”   J. R. Miller

“If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness – he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you.  For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.  Could you therefore work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it heals with a word speaking, and turns all that it touches into happiness.  It be the noblest sacrifice that the greatest saint can offer unto God.”  William Law

“Be thankful for the smallest blessing, and you will deserve to receive greater.  Value the least gifts no less than the greatest and simple graces as especial favors.  If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem small or mean, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the Most High God.”    Thomas A Kempis 

“The world around us is training us to think we need more to be more joyful, when the truth is, if we’d just daily train ourselves to be more thankful, we get to be infinitely more joyful.  The more we need — is more thankfulness.”  Ann Voskamp

“The more thankfulness is present in us, the less vulnerable we are to sin. That’s why the Bible talks so much about thanksgiving. Thankful people have set their eyes on God (Hebrews 12:2), recognizing to some degree how much grace we are receiving right now (2 Corinthians 9:8), trusting him to cover all our sin and work our painful past for good (Romans 8:28), and looking to him for all we need tomorrow and into eternity (Philippians 4:19). Souls that learn to be content in God ‘in whatever situation’ (Philippians 4:11) are souls that are the least vulnerable to temptation, particularly covetous temptations.”  Jon Bloom

“We are often guilty of spiritual amnesia, Amen?  When things are going swimmingly well our focus tends towards our circumstances and comforts finding our joy and satisfaction in them rather than in the One Who bestowed them.  Sadly, it often takes crisis to shake us up, get our attention and help us to refocus on what is truly best rather than a mere worldly substitute.  All good things come from God’s hand and we are to be thankful for them but they are to be held loosely.  No tight grip for the child of the King unless it is to His Hand.”  BHY

“But, grateful eyes truly do see grace and goodness, even in the most difficult and unattractive packages.  The Gratitude Syndrome makes you desire what you already have rather than always needing to have what you think you desire.  Gratitude makes life’s horizon bright and big rather than dark and distant. It turns what you have into more than enough.”    Jennifer Rothschild

“The root of joy is gratefulness … It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”   David Steindl-Rast

“A wonder-filled life is grateful attentiveness to the awe in our ordinary.”   Alia Joy

“You miss out on fully living the joy of your life, when you keep waiting for another life to make you joyful.  If you aren’t noticeably grateful with what you have right now, why think you’d be noticeably joyful when you have more?”   Ann Voskamp

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart — transforming the disposition and the whole character.  Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.  An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.  This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken.  We must persist in being thankful.  When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”   J. R. Miller

“What if you woke up tomorrow with only what you were grateful for today?”   Anonymous

HEART SAVOR

• God loves a thankful heart.
• We are to give thanks in all circumstances – ALL – as it demonstrates we know that we know that we know He has our best interest at heart.  And He Who created us always has our best interest at heart – no matter what our circumstances may be bellowing out.
• A posture of gratefulness is imperative for a child of the King.

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God Has Purpose In Affliction For His Child 11.23.20

GOD HAS PURPOSE IN AFFLICTION FOR HIS CHILD

BREAD

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. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)

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 12:7-11 (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)

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

¹ How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me? ² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?  ³ Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.  Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; ⁴ my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”  and my foes will rejoice when I fall. ⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. ⁶ I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.  Psalms 13:1-6 (NIV)

³¹ For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.  ³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. ³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.  Lamentations 3:31-33 (NIV)

¹ When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. ² Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”  ³ The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ⁴ Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.  Psalms 126:1-6 (NIV)

⁹² If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. ⁹³ I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.   Psalms 119:92-93 (NIV)

³² “Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes.”  Nehemiah 9:32 (NIV)

BUTTER

“There are many blessings to be learned in the furnace of affliction.  It teaches us compassion for others in a suffering condition, and to value our earthly comforts more without doting upon them.  We are blessed when sufferings conform us to Jesus Christ, and lead us to prayer.  Man is never in a happier condition than when his heart is in a praying frame.  Affliction makes us more acquainted with the Bible, and teaches us to weep over grieving God’s Holy Spirit.  Affliction teaches us to long for heaven, and to redeem the time.  A teaching-affliction is a part of the covenant of grace.  It does not contain freedom from affliction, but from the evil of sin.  The rod and Word are blessed.”  Thomas Case  

“God’s grace will always be sufficient for those who trust Him.  The hope we taste in the promises we trust will often be the sweetest thing we experience in this age.  And the reward of God’s fulfillment of these promises will be glorious beyond our imagination.”  Jon Bloom

“God’s children run home when the storm comes. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. “He who has made God his refuge” might serve as the title of a true believer.”  C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth’s hives, where we find no honey but many sharp stings, we rejoice in Him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb.”       C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“In believing prayer, we learn to connect our present troubles to the good and perfect will of God.  We refuse to believe that chance rules our lives.  We withstand the temptation to imagine that God is capricious or malicious.  We know he has a higher purpose and that he is not dealing with us as our sins deserve.  As we bring our troubles to Jesus in prayer—asking his will to be done—we approve the will of our Father in heaven. We see our sufferings in the greater reality of his good, acceptable, and perfect will.  In prayer we ‘turn crisis to Christ.’  Our heart becomes tuned to his heart and we sing the song of grace.”   Ancient Prayer, John F. Smed 

“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 

“God will never permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”   Peter Marshall

“This God is no stranger to the hard road. This God walked the hardest road for us. And whatever road we’re walking on now—then somehow, someway—that road is good. There’s not just breadcrumbs of good for you on it; the road itself is good… In this hard, He is doing something holy. He is doing something transformative. Even as our hearts rage. Even as they break….This upside down road, where His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), where troubles are an opportunity for great joy (James 1:2) because troubles usher us into His presence, and in His presence, there is fullness of joy. (Psalms 16:11).  This is Who.  A God who does not forsake. A God who is not cruel. A God who is not stingy with grace.  Not a sparrow falls outside of His care.  When we find ourselves walking through a dry and weary land where there is no water, shaking our fists at why…Fix the eyes on this God.  Remember and rest in Who.  Maybe comfort isn’t found so much when we ask ‘Why is this all unfolding here and now?’ — Maybe comfort is found more when we rest in Who is enfolding us all here and now.”  Katie Ganshert 

“God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day.  God appoints every day’s troubles.  And God appoints every day’s mercies. In the life of his children, they are perfectly appointed.  Jesus said, ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’ (Matthew 6:34).  Every day has its own trouble.  Every day has its own mercies. Each is new every morning.  But we often tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources.  God wants us to know: We won’t.  Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles.  Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.”    John Piper

“For the child of the King, it is such blessing to walk with God “in the cool of the day” free from worry, anxiety and fear.  He Who loves us with an everlasting love, Who rejoices over us with singing, Who covers us with His feathers and under Whose wings we find refuge is our security in this fallen and very, very difficult world – the land of dragons.  He doesn’t remove our trials, He bestows grace sufficient to meet our needs and by the difficulty, through His power, our faith is strengthened and a harvest of righteousness and peace is produced in our lives.  He is always faithful in this task.  Don’t flee from Him when troubles come our way (even by our own doings) rather run to Him.  He’s calling you.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• God is working all things out for both our good and His glory:   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. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?   Romans 8:28-31 (NIV)
• Discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
• God does not willingly bring affliction and grief to His children and only allows what we eventually bless us. 

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Where Is Your Faith 11.20.20

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH

BREAD

²⁴ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”  He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ²⁵ “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.  In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”  Luke 8:24-25 (NIV)

¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. ¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. ¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” ¹⁹ “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”  ²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.  ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”  “From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  ²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”  ²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.   Mark 9:15-27 (NIV)

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”  Acts 16:29-31 (NIV)

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  John 6:29 (NIV)

¹ Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

¹² Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.   1 Corinthians 13:12 (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)

⁷ We live by faith, not by sight.  2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Faith must be strong or love will not be fervent; the root of the flower must be healthy or we cannot expect the blossom to be glorious. Faith is the plant’s root, and love is the plant’s blossom.”  C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“When the storms hit, they almost always appear stronger to us than God’s Word.  It is crucial for us to remember that our perceptions can be deceptive.”   Jon Bloom

“The trials that come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces and immediately illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues and to add to their energy. Our Lord in His infinite wisdom and superabundant love sets such a high value upon His people’s faith that He will not protect them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith that now supports you if the trial of your faith had not put you through the fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted as well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro and made you take a firm hold upon the precious truths of God’s gracious covenant.”  Charles H. Spurgeon

“Waiting on God’s best for our lives proves we believe Him. It demonstrates our faith in who He is and what He says about our lives. Learning to wait on His perfect timing results in greater joy when His promises are fully realized in our lives.”   Michael Youssef

“A child lives by faith, and his chief characteristic is freedom from care.”   Hannah Whitall Smith

“When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem after her sorrowful sojourn in Moab, she could not see a harvest from her tears. It all looked like a tragedy; like ‘vanity and striving after wind’ (Eccl. 1:14).  That’s how it looked. That’s how it felt. But that’s not how it was.  In reality, all of the ups and downs in Naomi’s life—the famine, the move to Moab, the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion, Ruth’s loyalty, Naomi’s return at barley harvest, Boaz, and the kinsman who chose not to redeem Ruth—all of these events played parts in God’s plan to redeem millions and weave a Moabite into the royal, Messianic bloodline.  The bigger story of redemption was far bigger than they imagined. Even though they were in the middle of the story, none of them could see it from their vantage point.  We must remember this perspective in our times of desolation, grief and loss.  How things appear to us, and how they actually are, are rarely the same.  Sometimes it looks and feels like the Almighty is dealing “very bitterly” with us, when all the while He is doing us and many others more good than we could have imagined.  God’s purposes in the lives of His children are always gracious. Always.  If they don’t look like it, don’t trust your perceptions.  Trust God’s promises.  He is always fulfilling His promises.”   Jon Bloom

“My hope rests on the willing, faithful, powerful, and loving presence of God with me. It is the ultimate gift of gifts to everyone who walks the harsh and bumpy road between birth and eternity. Our hope is not found in understanding why God allowed suffering into our lives. Our hope is not found in the belief that somehow we will tough our way through. Our hope is not found in doctors, lawyers, pastors, family, or friends.  Our hope is not found in our resilience or ingenuity.  Our hope is not found in ideas or things.  Though we may look to all those for temporary help, ultimately our hope rests in the faithful and gracious presence of the Lord with us.”   Paul David Tripp

“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

• “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.  On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”  Mote
• “God is too wise to err, too good to be unkind; leave off doubting Him, and begin to trust Him, for in so doing, you will put a crown on His head.” Charles H. Spurgeon
• We can stand firm in our faith in Him through His power even when the winds of life blow hard.  We serve a good, good God.

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It Is Possible To Make A Change 11.18.20

IT IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A CHANGE

BREAD

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 4:21-24 (NIV)

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.   Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

⁴ You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  1 John 4:4 (NIV)

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  John 14:15-18 (NIV)

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:15-21 (NIV)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NIV)

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  Colossians 3:5-11 (NIV)

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. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.   Romans 8:29-30 (NIV)

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV)

BUTTER

“It is then faith in Christ – not merely works or slavish legal obedience – which releases the divine power to live the Christian life.  Flesh will ultimately fail you.  Christ does not automatically operate in a believer’s life like rubbing a jar for a genie and making a Paul out of a Pilate.  No, no…as we walk in faith, placing our trust and confidence in Him, He bestows the power to accomplish things too hard for man to do – the most amazing one is changing the bents of our broken human hearts.  He is the ultimate Transformer always from the inside out.  Trust Him with your life.”  BHY

“Why faint when you can be strong? Why suffer defeat when you may conquer? Take your wavering faith and faltering graces to Him who can revive and replenish them, and earnestly pray, ‘Summon your power, O God . . . by which you have worked for us.’”  C. H. Spurgeon

“God offers us encouragement, hope, consolation, and direction when we come to Him in the midst of our struggle.  He speaks to us through His Spirit, equips us with self-control, reminds us of His love, and surrounds us with people who can speak life into our darkness. To say yes to God, no matter what season or situation we’re in, we have to first be honest with Him about the reality of our pain.”  Teresa Swanstrom Anderson 

“Don’t be a fatalist. Be a Christian. Change is possible. God is alive. Christ is risen. The promises are true.”  John Piper

“As a believer in Jesus walking in His will, the task ahead of you is never as great as the Power behind you.  In Him is the strength to accomplish all He asks for us to do.  Lean in and on Him.  He will never let the righteous fall.”  BHY

“You know to what extent You have already changed me, You who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, so that You might forgive all my remaining iniquities, and heal my diseases, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and satisfy my desire with good things.”  St. Augustine 

“Will power does not change men.  Time does not change men.  Christ does.”  Henry Drummond

“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

“You need to stop and seriously ask God to show you the insides of your heart. Lean into it, even if it’s hard and yucky. Who are you at the core, really? Ask Him, being honestly willing to hear His response. Take time in silence with the Lord and go through everything in your mind like you’re unpacking a suitcase . . . taking items out, one by one. Let Him show you if there is sin here.”  Teresa Swanstrom Anderson 

 “We have no power in an of ourselves to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.  Flesh will not finish well.  It is only through His power that we are able to do this.  It is actually an emptying of self and a filling of the Holy Spirit’s power to take over the whole life.  God is not interested in just part of us – He desires the whole heart.  Our pleas to Him, as King David’s was for his son Solomon, is for Him to give us wholehearted devotion and a willing mind to walk in a manner worthy of His Gospel.  Always for our good.  Always for His glory.  The One who gives the power to accomplish so great a fete is the One Who is to get the glory.”  BHY

“Being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, the will desires and acts not from compulsion, but responsively.”   Martin Luther

“The goal is Christlikeness.  The power to achieve this high calling, is only through the all-achieving indwelling Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit residing in every true believer of sweet Jesus.  Our willingness, lame and limping as it so often is, to this superlatively high calling is our meager contribution.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation – the old is gone, the new has come.
• It is only through His power that we can be more and more conformed into His image – for our good – for His glory.
• It is Christ Who changes hearts.   

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Steadfast And Steady As You Go 11.16.20

STEADFAST AND STEADY AS YOU GO

BREAD

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. ⁸ Awake, my soul!  Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn.  ⁹ I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  ¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Psalms 57:7-10 (NIV)

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.   Psalms 112:5-8 (NIV)

²⁵ Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”  Joshua 10:25 (NIV)

¹⁰ Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.   James 5:10-11 (NIV)

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. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.  Philippians 3:10-16 (NIV)

³ Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; ⁴ say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”   Isaiah 35:3-4 (NIV)

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

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.   Psalms 51:10-12 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Be patient, hold steady through the days that lie ahead, and know that the trials and sufferings are working toward a consuming glory.”   Frances J. Roberts

“Oh that I may be roused out of my slumber, and be watchful and ready against the coming of my Bridegroom…Even the wise virgins fell asleep.  Let this be a warning to me, O Lord.  Set thou a guard before my eyes, ears, and other faculties, lest the world again should enter through these avenues of the heart; if the spark be not speedily extinguished, it will soon break out into a flame:  thus sin is of a progressive nature, and its venom spreads very quickly and very wide, unless it be stopped and opposed in time.  Watch, therefore, over this unsteady heart of mine, O Thou Keeper of Israel; that as soon as it begins to wander from Thee, I may be alarmed to flee from sin as from a serpent.  Give me grace to look upon every hour as my last; so that being ever wisely upon my guard I may meet Thee with joy when my time is run out, whenever it shall please Thee to call me hence.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

“Until a man learns how to take a blow and keep on standing he will never produce a steady walk of faith.”   Alan Stewart

“The problem with unsteady commitment is not centrally a problem of the will; it is rather a deficient belief.  We simply do not believe that the God who tells us to remain committed…is good.  It follows that the basic cure for weak commitment is renewed faith, not rededicated effort.  Urgings to ‘love your wife and submit to your husband whether you feel like it or not’ fail to lay the axe to the root of the problem.  Unless God’s goodness is clearly established as the context for obedience, such exhortations will at best keep the weeds of anger and dissension from spreading.  They will not expose and rip out the hidden, flourishing root system whose flower is the ugly growth of broken promises…Obedience to God’s orders deepens our awareness of His goodness, and our awareness of His goodness provides motivation for further obedience.”  Larry Crabb

“A field has to be broken open before it can grow anything up.  Just stay steady.  No fits and starts – just stay steady.  Trust it as it comes.  I hear too… nod too. Steadiness is a balm to brokenness.”   Ann Voskamp

“It is vastly important where our steady gaze remains – fixed on Jesus – as we traverse this dusty earth on our way home.  It is easy to grow weary and loose heart without a proper focus.  He gives us everything we need to do His will.  We don’t muster “it” up because “it” is not in the flesh.  The flesh will fizzle out while the Spirit is a steady stream of achieving power and joy and peace as we remain in the center of His good and pleasing and perfect will.   It is the best place to be – hands down.”  BHY  

“‘Unfair,’ says some voice within us.  ‘That’s not right,’ says another.  Desires become expectations; expectations become rights.  And instead of bringing our disappointments to God, and allowing His words to steady us, we let unmet desire fester into discontentment.  We grumble.”   Scott Hubbard

“God is honored when we approach his words as those that revive the soul and rejoice the heart, as those that are more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey. The summary and culmination of Psalm 119’s unashamed tribute to God’s words is this: great reward. He means for us to experience his words as ‘my delight’, as ‘the joy of my heart’, as ‘the delight of my heart’, as ‘kindling for the fires of our joy.’  God gives us his own life-giving words to steady our souls and the souls of others.”  David Mathis

“All we have is in His loving, capable, Hands and His heart is as tender as His arms are strong.  We can trust Him with our lives and the lives of those we love.  Convert fear into faith.  How steady is His Hand to guide me through this world.  My needs shall be His care. Make your faith a defiant response.”  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 

“How to be pure?  By steadfast longing for the one good, that is, God.”  Meister Eckhart

“Immerse yourself in God’s Word, apply what you learn, and He will fan into flames the fire of your passion which keeps you yearning for further still and creates within you a pure and clean heart and a steadfast spirit.  Nothing this life offers equal this.”  BHY

“God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.  There is a lighthouse out at sea: It is a calm night—I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm. The tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: If it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we would not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we would not know how firm and secure it was. The masterworks of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties steadfast, unmovable– Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory. The one who would glorify his God must be prepared to meet with many trials. No one can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts are many.  If, then, yours is a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will be better able to display the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream of it–hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now should be trusted to the end.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

HEART SAVOR

• Remain steadfast and steady through all the trials and tribulations of life knowing He is with us, empowering us and creating in us the image of His Son purifying us from all sin.  Everything He allows has purpose.
• Our God steadfastly loves us with an undying love – He even rejoices over us with singing.  He desires our lives both for our good and His glory never one surpassing the other.  You can trust Him with your life.
• Finish well. Stay steadfast and steady as you go forth.

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Allow The Lord To Alchemize Your Life 11.13.20

  ALLOW THE LORD TO ALCHEMIZE YOUR LIFE

BREAD

⁸ “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. ⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”  Job 23:8-10 (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. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:3-9 (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)

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  And who can speak of his descendants?  For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  ⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  ¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Isaiah 53:7-11 (NIV)

²⁷ Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel ²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved–and that by God. 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 1:27-30 (NIV)

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  ²⁰ I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.  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.”  Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV)

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The sorest afflictions never appear intolerable, except when we see them in the wrong light.”  Brother Lawrence

“To added affliction He addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.”  Annie Johnson Flint

“The Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“That one’s sorrows are actually working for the faithful believer is predicated upon the faith that the unseen is the ultimate and supreme reality and that the present and visible are only relative and ephemeral…..‘Our   affliction,’ properly accepted, is actually creating or producing for us an ‘eternal weight of glory’ far beyond all proportion to the pain of the affliction.  Therefore it should be cherished and not wasted by resistance and rebellion.”    Paul E. Billheimer

“God’s promises and God’s providences do not lift us out of the plane of common sense and commonplace trial, but it is through these very things that faith is perfected, and that God loves to interweave the golden threads of His love along the warp and woof of our everyday experience.”   Hard Places in the Way of Faith

“To obey God is not so much our duty as our privilege.  His commands carry blessings in their mouth.   There is love in every command, as if a king bid one of his subjects to dig in a gold mine, and then keep the gold for himself.”  Thomas Watson

“See God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou dost 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

“We should have faith enough to believe that the present trouble, about which we are praying, is sent to us in love by God.  We should pray concerning our trials in this way:  ‘Lord, I have this thorn in the flesh.  I beseech You, deliver me from it, but meanwhile I bless you for it; for though I do not understand the why or the wherefore of it, I am persuaded there is love within it.  Therefore, while I ask You to remove it, so far as it seems evil to me, yet wherein it may to Your better knowledge work for my good, I bless You for it, and I am content to endure it so long as You see fit.’  Is not that a sweet way of praying?  This is a royal way of praying.  Such an amalgam of prayer and thanksgiving is more precious than the gold of Ophir.”    Charles H. Spurgeon    

“My life is but a weaving between my God and me.  I cannot choose the colors He weaveth steadily.  Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow; and I in foolish pride forget He sees the upper and I the underside.  Not ‘til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why.  The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.  He knows, He loves, He cares; Nothing this truth can dim.  He gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him.”    Corrie ten Boom

“Out from the mine and the darkness, Out from the damp and the mold, Out from the fiery furnace, Cometh each grain of gold.  Crushed into atoms and leveled Down to the humblest dust With never a heart to pity, With never a hand to trust.  Molten and hammered and beaten Seemeth it ne’er to be done.  Oh, for such fiery trial, What hath the poor gold done?  Oh, ‘twere a mercy to leave it Down in the damp and the mold.  If this is the glory of living, Then better to be dross than gold.  Under the press and the roller, Into the jaws of the mint, Stamped with the emblem of freedom, With never a flaw or a dint.  Oh, what a joy, the refining, Out of the damp and the mold.  And stamped with the glorious image, Oh, beautiful coin of gold!”  “In The Crucible” – Author Unknown

“Follow the right at every hazard. When you see no obvious advantage, then walk by faith and not by sight. Honor God by trusting Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See whether He will be your debtor! See if He does not even in this life prove His word that ‘there is great gain in godliness with contentment,’ and that for those who ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . . . all these things will be added to you.’   Should it happen that in the providence of God you are a loser for conscience’s sake, you will find that if the Lord does not pay you back in the silver of earthly prosperity, He will discharge His promise in the gold of spiritual joy. Remember that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of what he possesses.”   C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“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

“It is in the quiet crucible of our personal private sufferings that our noblest dreams are born and God’s greatest gifts are given.”  Wintley Phipps

“They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.”   Charles Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• God desires for His children to be conformed into the image of Christ.
• Oftentimes, His choice tool in the goal of making us into the likeness of His Son is affliction or trouble or wanting what you don’t have or having what you don’t want.
• God is good and all that He allows flows from love.  You can trust Him with your life.    

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Never Cease Praying 11.11.20

NEVER CEASE PRAYING

BREAD

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

¹ Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.  Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.  Psalms 4:1 (NIV)

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”   Psalms 50:14-15 (NIV)

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.  Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.   Isaiah 55:6-7 (NIV)

⁵ I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”  ⁶ Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. ⁷ Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.  Psalms 142:5-7 (NIV)

⁵ You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.  ⁶ Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy.  ⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.  Psalms 86:5-7 (NIV)

² “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it–the LORD is his name: ³ ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”   Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NIV)

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, ¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread. ¹² Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”   Matthew 6:5-13 (NIV)

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.   Ephesians 1:15-21 (NIV)

¹⁶ Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Prayer is our chief duty and brings heaven down to man.  There is no duty that has so many promises attached to it, gives more honour to God, or which receives more honour from God.  It is a guard to secure the fort of the heart, a porter to keep the door of the lips, and a shield to protect the hands.  It perfumes every relation and profits every condition.  No one can deprive you of this privilege.”  George Swinnock   

“The reason why we obtain no more in prayer is because we expect no more.”  Richard Alleine

“A prayer in a moment can fly to the highest heavens.  It is a sweet savor to God, a terror to the devil, and a shelter to a Christian.”   George Swinnock   

“God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them.”  E.M. Bounds

“Prayer is that mightiest of all weapons that created natures can wield.”   Martin Luther

“In believing prayer, we learn to connect our present troubles to the good and perfect will of God.  We refuse to believe that chance rules our lives.  We withstand the temptation to imagine that God is capricious or malicious.  We know he has a higher purpose and that he is not dealing with us as our sins deserve.  As we bring our troubles to Jesus in prayer—asking his will to be done—we approve the will of our Father in heaven. We see our sufferings in the greater reality of his good, acceptable, and perfect will.  In prayer we “turn crisis to Christ.”  Our heart becomes tuned to his heart and we sing the song of grace.”   John F. Smed 

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers.”   J. Sidlow Baxter

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”   Samuel Chadwick 

“Philippians 4:6 instructs us to pray about everything. If Paul had wanted us to limit our praying to everything big, he certainly would have told us. God is as interested in your small, seemingly insignificant requests as he is your kingdom-level, life changing needs. God’s interest in your prayers isn’t dependent upon their relative kingdom weightiness. Its’ based on his love for and interest in you. Praying for the little things teaches you to depend on God. Since prayer is communication and dialogue with God, praying for little things teaches you to enjoy his presence.  Seeking God in the little things increases your gratitude and offers perspective.  You should pray for little things, because they often turn into big things.”   Anonymous

“The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.”    R.A. Torrey     

“Just as a Momma rushes to the side of her wailing child, the Lord ever harkens His ear to His lamenting ‘sheep’.  He is a ‘with us’ God, staying by our side as we walk through our valleys of Baca (tears) and never leaves us nor forsakes us.  He will either change our circumstances or change us in our circumstances – either way the blessings He bestows as we call out to Him are totally other worldly.  He is the Ultimate Healer of the broken and contrite heart.”   BHY 

“Pleading the promises of God is the whole secret of prayer.”   Martyn Lloyd-Jones 

“The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer.”  F. B. Meyer

“How shall we get a good conscience?  Take heed of every sin, and do not count any small.  Renew repentance every day, being serious and frequent in heart examinations.  Live as under God’s eye.  All things are bare before Him.  Be much in secret prayer.  Consider every action as a part of your life purpose.  Enjoy Christ more and entertain good thoughts of God.  Whatever you do, do it out of love for God.”  Samuel Annesley

“Come, let us offer Him the great, universal sacrifice of our love, and pour out before Him our richest hymns and prayers.”   Ephrem the Syrian

“You know the value of prayer; it is precious beyond all price.  Never, never neglect it.”   Thomas Buxton   

“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.”   John Bunyan

“The kind of prayer that changes hearts and transforms neighborhoods and rebuilds communities and revives nations is intense, fervent, and all business. It’s that kind of dedicated ministry through which the real work of God gets done.”   David Jeremiah

“We can be world changers by bending the knees.  God changes things through prayer not the least of which is our own hearts.  As Chesterton aptly stated:  ‘Dear Sir: Regarding your article ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ I am. Yours truly.’  Prayer is ever mighty in its working.  It moves the hand of God.  Be faithful in prayer.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• God changes the world through prayer.
• When we call to Him he will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know.
• Prayer is the greatest gift.  Never, never neglect it. 

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How Then Shall We Live 11.9.20

HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE

BREAD

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)

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  Romans 12:9-13 (NIV)

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:  “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:17-21 (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)

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

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. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)

⁸ Love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV)

⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.  1 John 2:6 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception … which continued as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. I have, several other times, had views very much of the same nature, and which have had the same effects.”  Jonathan Edwards

“The essence of life is not found merely in simplicity and solitude and trying to get closer to a nature pulsing with life and convulsing in death. Life is not in today’s minimalism movement or sustainable living movement, nor is it in dream houses or bucket-list pursuits. All these things are ‘vanity and a striving after wind’ (Ecclesiastes 1:14) if we are not finding life’s essence, its meaning, in the Creator of life. The unwasted life is the life we receive from Him and live for Him (John 1:12-13).”  Jon Bloom

“Change your habits, change your life.  We only have one life to live – don’t waste it.”  BHY

“The brilliant are always the ones who simply live like light. What breaks any dark is the courage of just one star.”  Ann Voskamp

“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

“Never tire of doing what is right.  Live a life acutely aware of the brevity of it.  We are indeed but a mist.  And we will have all eternity to be in bliss.  Seek not to pander the flesh but to promote self-discipline, placing a priority of love on those in your spheres – especially those in your own household.  We often miss so many God given opportunities when indulging our worldly wants.  Denial of the flesh – choosing God’s will over my own – is never easy, often misunderstood but always worth it.  His way is higher, better, more beneficial and pleasing to the soul though often unutterably difficult.  In the end, it produces a life of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  BHY

“Love one another that it may at last be said of Christians as it was at first: ‘Behold how they love one another.’”   Ralph Venning

“Jesus’ whole life was a witness to his Father’s love, and Jesus calls his followers to carry on that witness in his Name. We, as followers of Jesus, are sent into this world to be visible signs of God’s unconditional love. Thus we are not first of all judged by what we say but by what we live. When people say of us: ‘See how they love one another,’ they catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced and are drawn to it as by a magnet.  In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.”   Henri Nouwen

“Lord, make us mindful of the Glory that is ours in Christ Jesus. Let us savor our relationship with You and let us use every opportunity to tell the wonderful news – the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us – and as we have the ability, to send and carry that news to all parts of the world.  And Father, save, protect, keep and provide for our families. Protect us from the warfare waged against us by evil men and by Satan and his armies. Deepen our faith. Let us look to You and receive strength and power; let us stand firm.  Let us cherish the times that we can spend together and let us think of and pray for one another when we are apart. Let us love one another deeply. May the Love of Christ overflow from our hearts. May people who are around us and see us know that we are Christians by our love. May our countenance, our faces display Christian Love.”   Roger Killian

“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

“We have no power in an of ourselves to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.  Flesh will not finish well.  It is only through His power that we are able to do this.  It is actually an emptying of self and a filling of the Holy Spirit’s power to take over the whole life.  God is not interested in just part of us – He desires the whole heart.  Our pleas to Him, as King David’s was for his son Solomon, is for Him to give us wholehearted devotion and a willing mind to walk in a manner worthy of His Gospel.  Always for our good.  Always for His glory.  The One who gives the power to accomplish so great a fete is the One Who is to get the glory.”  BHY      

“A man’s god is that for which he lives.”  Martyn Lloyd-Jones 

HEART SAVOR

• We are to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel – through His power, for His glory.
• We are to be living sacrifices – holy and pleasing to God.
• We are to shine like stars in the universe pointing others to Christ, the Source of our light. 

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