Suggestions for Fasting and Feasting...

Fast from discontent; feast on thankfulness.

Fast from worry; feast on trust.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayers.

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

Fast from discouragement, feast on hope.

Fast from media hype, feast on the honesty of the Bible.

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from problems that overwhelm;
feast on prayer that undergirds.

-Author unknown image

Messiah...

Not that Jesus’s concept of Messiahship corresponded to Jewish expectations. His notion reflected his view of God’s eschatological kingdom, which he preached as a reality brought into being by his own ministry. He saw the kingdom as a new relationship between penitent sinners and God as their heavenly Father, a relationship achieved through commitment to himself as their sovereign Saviour; and he saw his lordship as based on his call to be God’s suffering servant, the innocent one who, having died for the others’ sins, is then vindicated by being restored to life.
...James I. Packer image

Christ will be Master of the heart...

Christ will be Master of the heart, and sin must be mortified... If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged; and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, He has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people not in their sins, but from them.
...CH Spurgeon image

The sovereignty of Christ...

The sovereignty of Christ from the cross is a new sovereignty. It has destroyed forever the formula that might is right. It has put to shame the self-assertion of false heroism. It has surrounded with imperishable dignity the completeness of sacrifice. It has made clear to the pure heart that the prerogative of authority is wider service. the divine King rules forever by dying. ...Brooke Foss Wescott image

 

"The trees of the Lord are full of sap."

"The trees of the Lord are full of sap." -Psalm 104:16
 

Without sap the tree cannot flourish or even exist. Vitality is essential to a Christian. There must be life—a vital principle infused into us by God the Holy Ghost, or we cannot be trees of the Lord. The mere name of being a Christian is but a dead thing, we must be filled with the spirit of divine life. This life is mysterious. We do not understand the circulation of the sap, by what force it rises, and by what power it descends again. So the life within us is a sacred mystery. Regeneration is wrought by the Holy Ghost entering into man and becoming man's life; and this divine life in a believer afterwards feeds upon the flesh and blood of Christ and is thus sustained by divine food, but whence it cometh and whither it goeth who shall explain to us? What a secret thing the sap is! The roots go searching through the soil with their little spongioles, but we cannot see them suck out the various gases, or transmute the mineral into the vegetable; this work is done down in the dark. Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hid in him; this is the secret of the Lord. The radix of the Christian life is as secret as the life itself. How permanently active is the sap in the cedar! In the Christian the divine life is always full of energy—not always in fruit-bearing, but in inward operations. The believer's graces are not every one of them in constant motion, but his life never ceases to palpitate within. He is not always working for God, but his heart is always living upon him. As the sap manifests itself in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree, so with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is externally manifested in his walk and conversation. If you talk with him, he cannot help speaking about Jesus. If you notice his actions you will see that he has been with Jesus. He has so much sap within, that it must fill his conduct and conversation with life. ...CH Spurgeon image

What is needed for happy effectual service...

What is needed for happy effectual service is simply to put your work into the Lord's hand, and leave it there. Do not take it to Him in prayer, saying, "Lord, guide me, Lord, give me wisdom, Lord, arrange for me," and then arise from your knees, and take the burden all back, and try to guide and arrange for yourself. Leave it with the Lord, and remember that what you trust to Him you must not worry over nor feel anxious about. Trust and worry cannot go together.
...Hannah Whitall Smith image

Tell God all that is in your heart...

Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them: show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others.

 

If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God. ... François Fénelon photo

Finally, the Devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world...

Finally, the Devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said: All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. All Christ had to do in return was to worship the donor instead of God—which, of course, he could not do. How interesting, though, that power should be at the Devil’s disposal, and only attainable through an understanding with him! Many have thought otherwise, and sought power in the belief that by its exercise they could lead men to brotherhood and happiness and peace, invariably with disastrous consequences. Always in the end the bargain with the Devil has to be fulfilled—as any Stalin or Napoleon or Cromwell must testify. I am the light of the world, Christ said; power belongs to darkness. ... Malcolm Muggeridge image

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You will be with us...

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You will be with us today and tonight and forever. Will You keep us from danger and protect us against fear? And will you show us the right way and not let go when we choose the wrong way and when we are in danger? It is wonderful to know that You take hold of our hands, that You hold us tight. And when you hold us tight, You lead us on, all our life. And when You lead us on through life, there will be a day when You bring us home safely. Thank you, Lord Jesus, Amen. ...Corrie Ten Boom image

There are so many different ways of being healed...

There are so many different ways of being healed. The best way, and by far the commonest, is to be loved. To be loved by God, and to know it and live it, is to be healed indeed. The Good News first of all is that you and I are accepted and loved by God. From all eternity you and I have been in the mind of God. God's love for us is utterly reliable and has no conditions whatsoever. ...Cyril Brooks image

A holy Lent...My faith looks up to thee!

My faith looks up to thee,

Thou Lamb of Calvary,
 Saviour divine!

Now hear me while I pray;

Take all my guilt away;

O let me from this day
Be wholly thine.
 

May thy rich grace impart

Strength to my fainting heart,

My zeal inspire;

As Thou hast died for me.

O may my love to Thee

Pure, warm and changeless be,

A living fire.
 

While life's dark maze I tread,

And griefs around me spread,

Be Thou my guide;

Bid darkness turn to day,

Wipe sorrow's tears away,

Nor let me ever stray
 From Thee aside.

When ends life's transient dream,

When death's cold, sullen stream

Shall o'er me roll,

Blest Saviour, then, in love,

Fear and distrust remove;

O bear me safe above,

A ransomed soul.

 -Ray Palmer
 

My prayer is for a Blessed and Holy Lent

for all the readers of this blog! -PD

God is a great king above all kings...

God is a great king above all kings, and has a throne above all thrones of earthly princes.  The rise and fall of princes, the issues of war, and all the great affairs of state which are the subject of the consultations of wise and great men, are no more above God's direction than the meanest concerns of the poorest cottages are below his notice.  It is not without the divine permission that the devil deceives men, and even thereby God serves his purposes.
...Matthew Henry image

The Transfiguration...O wondrous sight!

O wondrous sight! O vision fair

Of glory that the church shall share,

Which Christ upon the mountain shows,

Where brighter than the sun He glows!
 

From age to age the tale declares

How with the three disciples there

Where Moses and Elijah meet,

The Lord holds converse high and sweet.
 

The law and prophets there have place,

Two chosen witnesses of grace,

The Father’s voice from out the cloud

Proclaims His only Son aloud.
 

With shining face and bright array,

Christ deigns to manifest that day

What glory shall be theirs above

Who joy in God with perfect love.
 

And faithful hearts are raised on high

By this great vision’s mystery;

For which in joyful strains we raise

The voice of prayer, the hymn of praise.
 

O Father, with the eternal Son,

And Holy Spirit, ever One,

Vouchsafe to bring us by Thy grace

To see Thy glory face to face.

...from the Sar­um Brev­i­ary

He looks at your life to see if you have an obedient heart...

Some people say, 'God will not ask me to do anything that I am not able to do.' God always asks you to do things you cannot do. He is not interested in revealing your devotion to Him to a watching world, by giving you things you know you can do. He doesn't take an inventory of your gifts and abilities. He looks at your life to see if you have an obedient heart and are willing to let Him express His presence and His power through your life. ...Henry Blackaby image

You never know how much you really believe anything...

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by a rope over the precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?...Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. ...CS Lewis image

Christian holiness...

Christian holiness, whether for the church or for the individual, can never be a static thing, something gained once for all. It has to be maintained amidst conflicts and perils that are renewed day by day. It is a moving thing; it can only exist as a function of pilgrimage. ...Stephen Neill image

What can the Lord deny us after giving us Jesus?

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
-Romans 8:32

If this is not a promise in form, it is in fact. Indeed, it is more than one promise, it is a conglomerate of promises. It is a mass of rubies, and emeralds, and diamonds, with a nugget of gold for their setting. It is a question which can never be answered so as to cause us any anxiety of heart. What can the Lord deny us after giving us Jesus? If we need all things in heaven and earth, He will grant them to us: for if there had been a limit anywhere, He would have kept back His own Son.

What do I want today? I have only to ask for it. I may seek earnestly, but not as if I had to use pressure and extort an unwilling gift from the Lord's hand; for He will give freely. Of His own He gave us His own Son. Certainly no one would have proposed such a gift to Him. No one would have ventured to ask for it. It would have been too presumptuous. He freely gave His Only-begotten, and, O my soul, canst thou not trust thy heavenly Father to give thee anything, to give thee everything? Thy poor prayer would have no force with Omnipotence if force were needed; but His love, like a spring, rises of itself and overflows for the supply of all thy needs. ...CH Spurgeon image