Keeping Him always before us...

But when we are faithful in keeping ourselves in his holy presence, keeping him always before us, this not only prevents our offending him or doing something displeasing in his sight (at least willfully), but it also brings to us a holy freedom, and if I may say so, a familiarity with God wherein we may ask and receive the graces we are so desperately in need of. 

-Brother Lawrence

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. -Ephesians 1:3-6

The life of holiness is the life of faith in which the believer, with a deepening knowledge of his own sin and helplessness apart from Christ, increasingly casts himself upon the Lord, and seeks the power of the Spirit and the wisdom and comfort of the Bible to battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

-Edmund P. Clowney

We Are Thankful

We Are Thankful 

Sovereign Grace Music

VERSE 1

For goodness and for mercy that has surely followed us

And every blessing we could never earn

For all the gifts we cherish that are pictures of Your love

What could we ever offer in return? 

CHORUS

Thank You, thank You, Father, thank You 

You are always good 

Thank You, thank You, Father, thank You

You are always faithful and we are thankful 

VERSE 2

For sorrows and for trials that You send to shape our hearts 

And pain that keeps us clinging to Your grace  

For faith within the fire or Your presence in the dark 

What can we sing no matter what we face?

VERSE 3

For pardon and forgiveness through our Savior’s sacrifice 

And death that’s swallowed up in victory

For love that’s never failed us and Your everlasting life 

What will we say for all eternity?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. -Colossians 3:16

The music of the gospel must precede the words of the gospel and prepare the context in which there will be a hunger for those words. What is the music of the gospel? The music of the gospel is the beauty of the indwelling Christ as lived out in the everyday relationships of life. -Joseph C. Aldrich

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. -1 John 4:7-11

How can we love a holy God? The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can’t. Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds his holy love into our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him. He is the One who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we can do nothing of righteousness. Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can only love Him because He first loved us.   -R.C. Sproul

For I am not ashamed of the gospel...

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  -Romans 1:16-17

Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God’s grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust in and knowledge of God’s grace makes a person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as burning and shining from fire. -Martin Luther

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad...

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

 it shall blossom abundantly

    and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

    the majesty of our God.

   -Isaiah 35:1-2

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation—a rock rising above the storm.  -Robert Murray M’Cheyne

Be Still, Be Still, My Soul...

 

Be Still, Be Still, My Soul 

Sovereign Grace Music

VERSE 1

Should mountains melt into the roaring oceans

The earth give way or heaven’s lights grow cold

O mighty God, You are my strong defender

Be still, be still, my soul

 

VERSE 2

When all I see are enemies before me

When unbelief and doubt have taken hold

O Lord of hosts, You promise to defeat them

Be still, be still, my soul

 

CHORUS 1

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

Be still, my soul

 

VERSE 3

Though all around the wicked seem to prosper

They mock Your name and rise against Your throne

O righteous Judge, their deeds You will remember

Be still, be still, my soul

 

CHORUS 2

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

Be still, my soul

 

VERSE 4

Though wars erupt, You will not leave us orphans

Though nations rage, You guard us as Your own

O, Prince of Peace, we will not be abandoned

Be still, be still, my soul

Be still, be still, my soul

The risen life of Jesus...

The risen life of Jesus is the nourishment and strengthening and blessing and life of a Christian. Our daily experience ought to be that there comes, wavelet by wavelet, that silent, gentle, and yet omnipotent influx into our empty hearts, this very life of Christ Himself. -Alexander MacLaren

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul...

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

 O my God, in you I trust;

    let me not be put to shame;

    let not my enemies exult over me.

 Indeed, none who wait for you 

shall be put to shame;

    they shall be ashamed 

who are wantonly treacherous.

 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

    teach me your paths.

 Lead me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are the God of my salvation;

    for you I wait all the day long.

 Remember your mercy, O Lord, 

and your steadfast love,

    for they have been from of old.

 Remember not the sins of my youth 

or my transgressions;

    according to your steadfast love remember me,

    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

-Psalm 25:1-7

I waited patiently for the Lord...

I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who makes

    the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

    yet they are more than can be told.

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.” 

-Psalm 40:1-8

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed...

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

 save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.

-Jeremiah 17:14

The Lord is my strength and my song...

The Lord is my strength and my song;

    he has become my salvation.

Glad songs of salvation

    are in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

    the right hand of the Lord exalts,

    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

I shall not die, but I shall live,

    and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has disciplined me severely,

    but he has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

    that I may enter through them

    and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;

    the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

    and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing;

    it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

    -Psalm 118:14-24

Morning breaks upon the tomb...

Morning breaks upon the tomb;

Jesus scatters all its gloom.

Day of triumph through the skies,

See the glorious Savior rise.

You who are of death afraid,

Triumph in the scattered shade.

Drive your anxious cares away;

See the place where Jesus lay.

Christian, dry your flowing tears;

Chase your unbelieving fears.

Look on his deserted grave;

Doubt no more his pow'r to save.

-William Collyer

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

-Psalm 130

---------------------The Great Silence--------------------

Ancient Homily For Holy Saturday

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:

“Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.

“I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.

“For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

“See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

“Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.”

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree..."

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. -1 Peter 2:22-25

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. -J.C. Ryle

"For I have given you an example..."

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. -John 13:12-17

It is a great act of eternal love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner, and puts him into the family of God; but what condescending patience there is when the Saviour with much long-suffering bears the oft recurring follies of his wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, washing away the multiplied transgressions of his erring but yet beloved child!....While we find comfort and peace in our Lord’s daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase our watchfulness, and quicken our desire for holiness. Is it so? -CH Spurgeon

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. 

-Matthew 26:14-16

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

    O Lord, make haste to help me!

Let them be put to shame and confusion

    who seek my life!

Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor

    who delight in my hurt!

Let them turn back because of their shame

    who say, “Aha, Aha!”

May all who seek you

    rejoice and be glad in you!

May those who love your salvation

    say evermore, “God is great!”

But I am poor and needy;

    hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

    O Lord, do not delay!

  -Psalm 70