The Lord your God is in your midst...

The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

  -Zephaniah 3:17

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Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob...

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,

    the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

    who executes justice for the oppressed,

    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

    the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

    the Lord loves the righteous.

        -Psalm 145:5-8

Christ will be master of the heart...

Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Savior will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.  —Charles Spurgeon

I am the Good Shepherd...

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.  

-John 10:14-16

My Lord Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd, who have shown Your very gentle mercy to us unworthy sinners in various physical pains and sufferings, give grace and strength to me, Your little lamb, that in no tribulation or anguish or pain may I turn away from You!  -Francis of Assisi

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake...

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.  -1 Peter 3:14-17

The more vigor you need, the more gentleness and kindness you must combine with it... All stiff, harsh goodness is contrary to Jesus.  -François Fénelon

Christ Our Hope in Life and Death

 

Christ Our Hope in Life and Death 

Keith and Kristyn Getty, Matt Papa

What is our hope in life and death?

Christ alone, Christ alone.

What is our only confidence?

That our souls to him belong.

Who holds our days within his hand?

What comes, apart from his command?

And what will keep us to the end?

The love of Christ, in which we stand.

O sing hallelujah!

Our hope springs eternal;

O sing hallelujah!

Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death.

What truth can calm the troubled soul?

God is good, God is good.

Where is his grace and goodness known?

In our great Redeemer’s blood.

Who holds our faith when fears arise?

Who stands above the stormy trial?

Who sends the waves that bring us nigh

Unto the shore, the rock of Christ?

Unto the grave, what shall we sing?

“Christ, he lives; Christ, he lives!”

And what reward will heaven bring?

Everlasting life with him.

There we will rise to meet the Lord,

Then sin and death will be destroyed,

And we will feast in endless joy,

When Christ is ours forevermore.

The hour has come for you to wake from sleep...

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. -Romans 13:11-12

We have the means to evangelize our country; but they are slumbering in the pews of our churches.  -John Stott

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit...

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.   -Luke 10:21

It is almost always a mistake to recruit exceptional people for leadership; look for ordinary Christians—that is mostly what you have anyway. But prize them, value them. And appoint them as leaders.  -Eugene H. Peterson

Prayer is something deeper than words...

O Lord, God of my salvation,

 I cry out day and night before you.

 Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!

-Psalm 88:1-2

Prayer is something deeper than words. It is present in the soul before it has been formulated into words. And it abides in the soul after the last words of prayer have passed over our lips.

Prayer is an attitude of our hearts, an attitude of mind. Prayer is a definite attitude of our hearts toward God, an attitude which He in heaven immediately recognizes as prayer, as an appeal to His heart. Whether it takes the form of words or not, does not mean anything to God, only to ourselves.  -O. Hallesby 

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness...

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. -Colossians 1:13-14

When Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross, it was not the blood of a martyr; or the blood of one man for another; it was the life of God poured out to redeem the world. 

-Oswald Chambers

"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. -1 Corinthians 2:2-5

The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God overall, we step out of the world’s parade... We shall acquire a new viewpoint; a new and different psychology will be formed within us; a new power will begin to surprise us by its upsurgings and its outgoings. -AW Tozer

He has great tranquility of heart...

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. -1 Peter 3:14-17

He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you be made greater than what you are in the sight of God.   

-Thomas à Kempis