Not power, but love

The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve. 

-John Stott Image

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud...

 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

   be gracious to me and answer me!

 You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

    Hide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

    O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

    O God of my salvation!

    -Psalm 27:7-9 Image

You Are My Hiding Place...

 

 You Are My Hiding Place 

 Heart Cry Ensemble

You are my hiding place

You always fill my heart 

with songs of deliverance

Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You

I will trust in You

Let the weak say I am strong 

in the strength of the Lord

I will trust in You

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence...

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

    for my hope is from him.

 He only is my rock and my salvation,

    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

 On God rests my salvation and my glory;

    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

   -Psalm 62: 5-7

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup...

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

-Psalm 16:5-8

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you...

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

    my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

    beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

    my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

    in your name I will lift up my hands.

   -Psalm 63:1-4

What does the Lord your God require of you...

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good..."    -Deuteronomy 10:12-13

True Christianity brings with it a daily cross...

We must not conceal from ourselves that true Christianity brings with it a daily cross in this life, while it offers us a crown of glory in the life to come. The flesh must be daily crucified. The devil must be daily resisted. The world must be daily overcome. There is a warfare to be waged, and a battle to be fought. All this is the inseparable accompaniment of true religion. Heaven is not to be won without it. Never was there a truer word than the old saying, “No cross, no crown!” If we never found this out by experience, our souls are in a poor condition. -JC Ryle

Our fellowship is with God...

Ah, I have kept Him waiting when I ought not, but He has waited even then. Always waiting - so patient with my foolishness, my weakness, my fear. Our fellowship is with God, and fellowship is friendship, and friendship means that partnership which, on His part, is the accommodating of His strength to my weakness. -G. Campbell Morgan

Still The King...

 

Still The King 

Chris Tomlin

When I think of the cross

The cross of Christ

Praise begins to rise

Praise begins to rise

When I look on the Lamb

The wounded Lamb

My hands will lift to Him

My hands will lift to Him

 

Isn't He worthy of all our worship

Isn't He worthy of the praises we bring

How could my heart not sing hallelujah

For the blood is still the blood

And the King is still the King

 

When I recount the cost

The cost of grace

You bought my sin and shame

I'll never be the same

When I look at my life

How good You've been

Oh I can't hold it in

I'll never hold it in

 

When I think of the tomb

The empty tomb

I'm filled with gratitude

Endless gratitude

 

For He defeated death

And He reigns above

No grave could hold His love

No grave could hold His love

 

Isn't he worthy of all our worship

Isn't he worthy of the praises we bring

How could my heart not sing of all You’ve done for me

For the blood is still the blood

And the King is still the King

 

For the blood is still the blood

And the King is still the King

Every growth of spiritual life...

Every growth of spiritual life, from the first tender shoot until now, has been the work of the Holy Spirit....The only way to more life is the Holy Spirit. You will not even know that you want more unless He works in you to desire it....The Spirit of God must come and make the letter alive, transfer it to your heart, set it on fire, and make it burn within you, or else its divine force and majesty will be hid from your eyes....Prayer is the creation of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do without prayer, and we cannot pray without the Holy Spirit. -CH Spurgeon Image

(I'm back posting news links over at Transfigurations after blogger took down that blog of 20 years...initially saying I violated "community standards". I never was informed as to what the problem was, but I am grateful it is restored. -PD )

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion...

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion,

for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst,

declares the LORD.

 And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD

in that day, and shall be my people.

And I will dwell in your midst,

 and you shall know that the LORD of hosts

 has sent me to you.

 And the LORD will inherit Judah

 as his portion in the holy land,

and will again choose Jerusalem."

Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD,

 for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

 ...Zechariah 2:10-13