Teach me to watch over all my ways...

Come, O children, listen to me;

    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

 What man is there who desires life

    and loves many days, that he may see good?

 Keep your tongue from evil

    and your lips from speaking deceit.

 Turn away from evil and do good;

    seek peace and pursue it.

       -Psalm 34:11-14

Teach me to watch over all my ways, that I may never be surprised by sudden temptations or a careless spirit, nor ever return to folly and vanity. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips, that I offend not in my tongue, neither against piety nor charity. Teach me to think of nothing but Thee, and what is in order to Thy glory and service; to speak nothing but Thee and Thy glories; and to do nothing but what becomes Thy servant, whom Thy infinite mercy by the graces of Thy Holy Spirit hath sealed up to the day of redemption.

-Jeremy Taylor

Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened...

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might..."  

-Ephesians 1:16-19

Give me an open ear, O God, that I may hear Thy voice calling me to high endeavor.

Give me an open mind, O God, a mind ready to receive and to welcome such new light of knowledge as it is Thy will to reveal to me.

Give me open eyes, O God, eyes quick to discover Thine indwelling in the world which Thou hast made.

Give me open hands, O God, hands ready to share with all who are in want the blessings with which Thou hast enriched my life.   -John Baillie

Strengthen the weak hands...

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who have an anxious heart,

 “Be strong; fear not!

   Behold, your God

    will come with vengeance,

     with the recompense of God.

      He will come and save you.”

        -Isaiah 35:3-4

Amid all our dryness let us never grow discouraged, but go steadily on, patiently waiting the return of better things; let us never be misled to give up any devout practices because of it, but rather, if possible, let us increase our good works, and if we cannot offer liquid preserves to our Bridegroom, let us at least offer Him dried fruit—it is all one to Him, so long as the heart we offer be fully resolved to love Him. 

 -François de Sales

Wait for the Lord...

I believe that I shall look 

upon the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living!

 Wait for the Lord; be strong, 

and let your heart take courage;

    wait for the Lord.

 -Psalm 27:13-14

Do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he “sat before the Lord.” And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment.  -Amy Carmichael 

When they saw the star...

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. -Matthew 2:10-11

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

The discussion of prayer is so great a task that it requires the Father to reveal it, His Firstborn Word to teach it, and the Spirit to enable us to think and speak rightly of so great a subject. -Origen

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

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. -AW Tozer

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith...

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  -Romans 5:1

Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God and he is instantly free. No one can hinder him. If we understand our first and sole duty to consist of loving God supremely and loving everyone, even our enemies, for God’s dear sake, then we can enjoy spiritual tranquillity under every circumstance.  

-AW Tozer

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

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. -2 Corinthians 1:3-5

A life devoted unto God, looking wholly unto Him in all our actions, and doing all things suitably to His glory, is so far from being dull, and uncomfortable, that it creates new comforts in everything that we do. -William Law

You shall not go out with haste, for the Lord will go before you...

You shall not go out with haste, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. —Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. “…God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. “…the Lord will go before you….” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste….” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him. -Oswald Chambers

So then you are no longer strangers...

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. -Ephesians 2:19-22

... stooping very low, He engraves with care

His Name, indelible, upon our dust,

And, from the ashes of our self-despair,

Kindles a flame of hope and humble trust.

He seeks no second site on which to build,

But on the old foundation, stone by stone,

Cementing sad experience with grace,

Fashions a stronger temple of His own.

-Patricia St. John

And this is eternal life...

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. -John 17:3

Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.  -JI Packer

Show me your ways, Lord...

Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

 Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

-Psalm 25:4-5

The Wexford Carol

 

The Wexford Carol-12th Century Irish Christmas Carol 

Patrick Dexter/Cello

Angels From Realms Of Glory

 

Angels From Realms Of Glory 

We Are Messengers

When the song of the angels is stilled...

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart.

-Howard Thurman