“Ask, and it will be given to you..."

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! -Matthew 7:7-11

Such is our dependence upon God that we are obliged not only to do everything for His sake, but also to seek from Him the very power. This happy necessity of having recourse to Him in all our wants, instead of being grievous to us, should be our greatest consolation. What a happiness is it, that we are allowed to speak to Him with confidence, to open our hearts and hold familiar conversation with him by prayer! He Himself invites us to it.  -François Fénelon

For his anger is but for a moment...

For his anger is but for a moment,

    and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

-Psalm 30:5

We who live in this nervous age would be wise to meditate on our lives and our days long and often before the face of God and on the edge of eternity. For we are made for eternity as surely as we are made for time, and as responsible moral beings we must deal with both.  -A.W. Tozer

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes...

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;

    and I will keep it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

    and observe it with my whole heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

    for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,

    and not to selfish gain!

 -Psalm 119:33-36

A loving Personality dominates the Bible...

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” -Luke 24:30-32 Image

A loving Personality dominates the Bible, walking among the trees of the garden and breathing fragrance over every scene. Always a living Person is present, speaking, pleading, loving, working, and manifesting himself whenever and wherever his people have the receptivity necessary to receive the manifestation.  -A.W. Tozer

Holy Forever

 

Holy Forever 

CeCe Winans

A thousand generations 

Falling down in worship

To sing the song of ages to the Lamb

And all who've gone before us 

And all who will believe

Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb

Your name is the highest

Your name is the greatest

Your name stands above them all

All thrones and dominions

All powers and positions

Your name stands above them all

And the angels cry, Holy

All creation cries, Holy

You are lifted high, Holy

Holy forever

If you've been forgiven 

And if you've been redeemed

Sing the song forever to the Lamb

If you walk in freedom 

And if you bear His name

Sing the song forever to the Lamb

We'll sing the song forever and amen

And the angels cry, Holy

All creation cries, Holy

You are lifted high, Holy

Holy forever

Hear Your people sing, Holy

To the King of Kings, Holy

You will always be, Holy

Holy forever

Your name is the highest

Your name is the greatest

Your name stands above them all

All thrones and dominions

All powers and positions

Your name stands above them all

Jesus

Your name is the highest

Your name is the greatest

Your name stands above them all 

Above all thrones and dominions

All powers and positions

Your name stands above them all

And the angels cry, Holy

All creation cries, Holy

You are lifted high, Holy

Holy forever 

Hear Your people sing, Holy

To the King of Kings, Holy 

You will always be, Holy

Holy forever

You will always be, Holy

Holy forever

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness...

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. -Romans 8:26-27

It is not necessary to maintain a conversation when we are in the presence of God. We can come into His presence and rest our weary souls in quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him.   -O. Hallesby

Jesus! Where’er Thy people meet...

Jesus! Where’er Thy people meet,

There they behold Thy mercy-seat;

Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found,

And every place is hallow’d ground.

 

Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few!

Thy former mercies here renew;

Here to our waiting hearts proclaim

The sweetness of Thy saving name.

    -William Cowper Image

“I will make with them a covenant of peace..."

“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them a renowned place for planting so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. -Ezekiel 34:25-29

What we have been told is how we men can be drawn into Christ—can become part of that wonderful present which the young Prince of the universe wants to offer to His Father—that present which is Himself and therefore us in Him. It is the only thing we were made for. And there are strange, exciting hints in the Bible that when we are drawn in, a great many other things in Nature will begin to come right. The bad dream will be over: it will be morning.-C.S. Lewis

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  -Hebrews 12:1-2 Image

We get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when, and only when, we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.-A.W. Tozer

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me...

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:12-13

Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too. -J.C. Ryle

When you walk through fire you shall not be burned...

When you pass through the waters, 

I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, 

they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire 

you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

-Isaiah 43:2

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As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, 

He will be in the furnace with them.  -CH Spurgeon