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

Fear not the storm...

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”   -Matthew 8:23-27 Image

Fear not the storm, it brings healing in its wings, and when Jesus is with you in the vessel, the tempest only hastens the ship to its desired haven.   -CH Spurgeon

And this is the confidence that we have toward him...

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. -1 John 5:14-15

God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.

-Robert Murray M’Cheyne

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice...

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

    let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

    that those who love your name may exult in you.

For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

-Psalm 5:11-12

The blessed and inviting truth is that God is the most winsome of all beings and in our worship of Him we should find unspeakable pleasure.   -A.W. Tozer

You did not choose me, but I chose you...

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. -John 15:16 Image

“A soul filled with large thoughts of the Vine will be a strong branch, and will abide confidently in Him. Be much occupied with Jesus, and believe much in Him, as the True Vine.”  ―Andrew Murray

I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130)

 

 I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130)

Jordan Kauflin

Verse 1

Out of the depths I cry to You

In darkest places I will call

Incline Your ear to me anew

And hear my cry for mercy Lord

Verse 2

Were You to count my sinful ways

How could I come before Your throne

Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze

I stand redeemed by grace alone

Chorus

I will wait for You

I will wait for You

On Your word, I will rely

I will wait for You

Surely wait for You

'Til my soul is satisfied

Verse 3

So put your hope in God alone

Take courage in His pow’r to save

Completely and forever won

By Christ emerging from the grave

Chorus

Verse 4

Now He has come to make a way

And God Himself has paid the price

That all who trust in Him today

Find healing in His sacrifice

Tag

That all who trust in Him today

Find healing in His sacrifice

Chorus

Chorus 2

I will wait for You

I will wait for You

Through the storm and through the night

I will wait for You

Surely wait for You

For Your love is my delight

For the invasion of my soul by Thy Holy Spirit...

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. -2 Corinthians 2:2-3 Image

For the invasion of my soul by Thy Holy Spirit:

For all human love and goodness that speak to me of Thee:

For the fullness of Thy glory outpoured in Jesus Christ

I give Thee thanks, O God.    

-John Baillie

Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God...

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. -1 John 3:23-24  Image

A genuine Christian should be a walking mystery because he surely is a walking miracle. Through the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is involved in a daily life and habit that cannot be explained.  -A.W. Tozer