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

Christ Is Mine Forevermore...

 

Christ Is Mine Forevermore 

CityAlight

Mine are days that God has numbered

I was made to walk with Him

Yet I look for worldly treasure

And forsake the King of kings

But mine is hope in my Redeemer

Though I fall, his love is sure

For Christ has paid for every failing 

I am his forevermore

Mine are tears in times of sorrow

Darkness not yet understood

Through the valley I must travel

Where I see no earthly good

But mine is peace that flows from heaven

And the strength in times of need

I know my pain will not be wasted

Christ completes his work in me

Mine are days here as a stranger

Pilgrim on a narrow way

One with Christ I will encounter

Harm and hatred for his name

But mine is armour for this battle

Strong enough to last the war

And he has said he will deliver

Safely to the golden shore

And mine are keys to Zion city

Where beside the King I walk

For there my heart has found its treasure

Christ is mine forevermore

Come rejoice now, O my soul

For his love is my reward

Fear is gone and hope is sure

Christ is mine forevermore

If we ever are to attain to true Divine Peace...

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 

-Romans 6:17-18

If we ever are to attain to true Divine Peace, and be completely united to God, all that is not absolutely necessary, either bodily or spiritually, must be cast off; everything that could interpose itself to an unlawful extent between us and Him, and lead us astray: for He alone will be Lord in our hearts, and none other; for Divine Love can admit of no rival.  -Johannes Tauler Image

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation...

I have told the glad news of deliverance

in the great congregation;

behold, I have not restrained my lips,

as you know, O Lord.

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

-Psalm 40:9-10

 

I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.  -John Wesley

For here we have no lasting city...

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.  

-Hebrews 13:14-16 Image

The loving service which God sends His people into the world to render includes both evangelism and social action, for each is in itself an authentic expression of love, and neither needs the other to justify it.  -John Stott

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word..."

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. -John 14:23

It is out of the question to be one with Him in any other way than in the way of nature, and character, and life. Unless we are Christ-like in our thoughts and our ways, we are not one with Him, no matter how we feel.  -Hannah Whitall Smith

The Lord is good to those who wait for him...

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

-Lamentations 3:25-26

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

" And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” -Matthew 11:4-6 Image

Thou didst call, and cry aloud, and break through my deafness. Thou didst blaze forth, and shine, and scatter my blindness. Thou wert fragrant, and I drew in my breath, and pant for Thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy peace.  -Augustine

Trisagion: Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One

 

 Trisagion

 Fernando Ortega 

 Holy God, 

Holy and mighty 

Holy Immortal One, 

Have mercy; 

Have mercy on us.

Understanding the Trisagion: Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One 

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..."

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

-Matthew 6:19-21

The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss.   -A.W. Tozer

Sing to God, sing praises to his name...

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;

his name is the Lord;

exult before him!

-Psalm 68:4

Tune me, O Lord, into one harmony

With thee, one full responsive vibrant chord;

Unto thy praise all love and melody,

Tune me, O Lord.

-Christina Rossetti