That I may know him and the power of his resurrection...

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  

-Philippians 3:8-11

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.   -James I. Packer

Heavenly Father, we ask you today to be with us and our country...

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:1-6

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    Heavenly Father, we ask you today to be with us and our country now as you have been since our first days as a nation. Help us to listen less to harsh rhetoric and more to the Holy Spirit. Help us to feel how Your Spirit will guide us, no matter the election’s outcome. We pray for peace, love and hope, in Your name. Amen.

    Christ, our King, we pray today that we can look beyond the current political landscape, in a moment when it seems like it’s the only thing everyone is talking about, and remember that we are builders of Your kingdom here on earth. Prince of Peace, help peace flourish amid division, and strengthen us to live generously and charitably in Your name. Amen.

    God, may Your Spirit unify us. May we recognize that we are all created in Your image, regardless of which political candidate we vote for. As we approach this election, open our eyes to recognize that people we may disagree with are still our brothers and sisters, Your children. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen. Prayer here

For you were called to freedom...

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

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 tranquility under every circumstance.   -A.W. Tozer Image

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

 

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

For the word of God is living and active...

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12

We cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by the intellect. Your first duty is to begin by prayer. Entreat the Lord to grant you, of His great mercy, the true understanding of His Word. There is no other interpreter of the Word of God than the Author of this Word, as He Himself has said, “They shall be all taught of God.” (John 6:45) Hope for nothing from your own labors, from your own understanding: trust solely in God, and in the influence of His Spirit. Believe this on the word of a man who has experience.   

-Martin Luther Image

Christ is the master; the Scriptures are only the servant.

-Martin Luther

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart...

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 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 29:11-13

Prayer is not a way of making use of God; prayer is a way of offering ourselves to God in order that He should be able to make use of us. It may be that one of our great faults in prayer is that we talk too much and listen too little. When prayer is at its highest we wait in silence for God’s voice to us; we linger in His presence for His peace and His power to flow over us and around us; we lean back in His everlasting arms and feel the serenity of perfect security in Him.  -William Barclay

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain..."

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

-Revelation 5:11-12

Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb.”   -Charles Haddon Spurgeon Image

In the beginning was the Word...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  -John 1:1-5

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.  -C.S. Lewis Image

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

-Psalm 139:1-4

We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.  -A.W. Tozer

“Enter by the narrow gate..."

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."  -Matthew 7:13-14

In an age when comfort and convenience are unspoken articles of our modern bill of rights, the Christian faith is not a license to entitlement, a prescription for an easy-going spirituality, or a how-to manual for self-improvement. The cross of Jesus runs crosswise to all our human ways of thinking. A rediscovery of the hard and the unpopular themes of the gospel will therefore be such a rediscovery of the whole gospel that the result may lead to reformation and revival.   -Os Guinness Image