"And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge..."

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   -Ephesians 3:14-19 Image

Paul says: “The love of Christ passeth knowledge.” It is like the blue sky into which you may see clearly, but the real vastness of which you cannot measure.   -Robert Murray M’Cheyne

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous...

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

    our God is merciful.

The Lord preserves the simple;

    when I was brought low, he saved me.

Return, O my soul, to your rest;

    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

       -Psalm 116:5-7

God is our refuge and strength..."Psalm 46"

"Psalm 46" 

The Corner Room 

 God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

Though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city...of God,

The holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

He utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

How he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

He burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Humble yourselves, therefore...

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.   -1 Peter 5:6-11

If you think to build a high house of virtues, lay first a deep foundation of humility.  -Augustine

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven...

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

    whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,

    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

    through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 

I acknowledged my sin to you,

    and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 

           -Psalm 32:1-5

The grandest fact under heaven is this—that Christ by his precious blood does actually put away sin, and that God, for Christ’s sake, dealing with men on terms of divine mercy, forgives the guilty and justifies them, not according to anything that he sees in them or foresees will be in them, but according to the riches of his mercy which lie in his own heart.  -CH Spurgeon

In this you rejoice...

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

-1 Peter 1:6-7

Faith always means helplessness. In many cases it means: I can do it with a great deal of trouble, but another can do it better. But in most cases it is utter helplessness; another must do it for me. And that is the secret of the spiritual life.  

-Andrew Murray Image

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial...

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. -James 1:12

God never strikes but in love, nor takes away save to give again. I pray Him to comfort you, to preserve your health, and to turn your heart wholly to Himself. Blessed is he who lives in faith, trusts to none save God, and uses this world as though he were already beyond it.    -François Fénelon

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord...

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 

-Colossians 2:6-10

Let us therefore without ceasing hold fast by our hope and by the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ who took up our sins in His own body upon the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, but for our sakes He endured all things, that we might live in Him. Let us therefore become imitators of His endurance; and if we should suffer for His name’s sake, let us glorify Him. For He gave this example to us in His own person, and we believed this.   -Polycarp

“O Lord, Thou knowest.”

But, as it is written,

 “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

     nor the heart of man imagined,

 what God has prepared for those who love him”—

   these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  -1 Corinthians 2:9-11

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination, and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, “O Lord, Thou knowest.” Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God’s omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints.   

-A.W. Tozer

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

 

 Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

 Keith and Kristyn Getty, Sandra McCracken 

Vs 1

Jesus, keep me near the cross

There a precious fountain

Free to all, a healing stream,

Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain

Chorus

In the cross, in the cross

Be my glory ever

Till my ransomed soul shall find

Rest beyond the river

Vs 2

Near the cross my trembling soul

Heard the Savior calling

There He died that I may know

Grace and peace abounding

Vs 3

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,

Bring its scenes before me

Help me walk from day to day

With its shadow o’er me

Vs 4

Near the cross! My heart will stay

Hoping, trusting ever

Till my eyes shall see the face

Of my blessed Savior

The Christian is the real radical of our generation...

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7

The Christian is the real radical of our generation, for he stands against the monolithic, modern concept of truth as relative. But too often, instead of being the radical, standing against the shifting sands of relativism, he subsides into merely maintaining the status quo. If it is true that evil is evil, that God hates it to the point of the cross, and that there is a moral law fixed in what God is in Himself, then Christians should be the first into the field against what is wrong.   -Francis A. Schaeffer

Therefore you also must be ready...

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.   -Matthew 24:42-44