Therefore, preparing your minds for action...

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”   -1 Peter 1:13-16

For you have delivered my soul from death...

 For you have delivered my soul from death, 

yes, my feet from falling, 

that I may walk before God 

 in the light of life. 

-Psalm 56:13

For to this you have been called...

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 

-1 Peter 2:21-24

“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!

“Turn to me and be saved,

    all the ends of the earth!

    For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn;

    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

    a word that shall not return:

‘To me every knee shall bow,

    every tongue shall swear allegiance.

   -Isaiah 45:22-23

The Lord is my light and my salvation...

 

Psalm 27 (The Lord Is My Light) 

 Jordan Kauflin, Laura Story

Vs 1

The Lord is my light and my salvation

Whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life

Of whom shall I be afraid?

Chorus

Lord, You are my shelter

God of my salvation, I am not forsaken

Lord, my shield and protector

Waiting on Your promise 

I will see Your goodness O Lord

Vs 2

When troubles arise no foe can harm me

You are my peace, You are my peace

You lift me above the raging storm

You conquer my enemies

Chorus

Vs 3

One thing I have asked, to see Your beauty

This I will seek, this I will seek

To dwell in Your house, to walk in Your ways

Your presence is all I need

Bridge

I wait, wait for the Lord

In faith, trusting Your Word

I wait, wait for the Lord

In faith, trusting Your Word

2x

Chorus

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. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.  -John 15:16-17

How can we love a holy God? The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can’t. Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds his holy love into our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him. He is the One who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we can do nothing of righteousness. Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can only love Him because He first loved us. -R.C. Sproul

I sought the Lord, and he answered me...

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

   and delivered me from all my fears. 

Those who look to him are radiant, 

   and their faces shall never be ashamed. 

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him 

   and saved him out of all his troubles. 

The angel of the Lord encamps 

   around those who fear him, and delivers them. 

    -Psalm 34:4-7 Image

 O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us. -St. Anselm

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous...

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

    our God is merciful.

The Lord preserves the simple;

    when I was brought low, he saved me.

Return, O my soul, to your rest;

    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,

    my eyes from tears,

    my feet from stumbling;

I will walk before the Lord

    in the land of the living.

      -Psalm 116:5-9

Keep yourselves in the love of God...

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  -Jude 20-21

Prayer has everything to do with moulding the soul into the image of God, and has everything to do with enhancing and enlarging the measure of Divine grace. It has everything to do with enriching, broadening and maturing the soul’s experience of God. That man cannot possibly be called a Christian, who does not pray.  -E.M. Bounds

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom 

and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are his judgments 

and how inscrutable his ways!

 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

    or who has been his counselor?”

 “Or who has given a gift to him

    that he might be repaid?”

 For from him and through him and to him are all things. 

To him be glory forever. Amen.

 -Romans 11:33-36

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness...

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. -Romans 8:26-27

It is not necessary to maintain a conversation when we are in the presence of God. We can come into His presence and rest our weary souls in quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him. -O. Hallesby

Jesus, Your Mercy

 

Jesus, Your Mercy 

Sovereign Grace Music

Verse 1

Jesus, Your mercy is all my plea

I have no defense, my guilt runs too deep

The best of my works pierced Your hands and Your feet

Jesus, Your mercy is all my plea

Verse 2

Jesus, Your mercy is all my boast

The goodness I claim, the grounds of my hope

Whatever I lack it’s still what I need most

Jesus, Your mercy is all my boast

Chorus

Praise the King who bore my sin

Took my place when I stood condemned

Oh how good You’ve always been to me

I will sing of Your mercy

Verse 3

Jesus, Your mercy is all my rest

When fears weigh me down and enemies press

A comfort I cling to in life and in death

Jesus Your mercy is all my rest

Verse 4

Jesus, your mercy is all my joy

Forever I’ll lift my heart and my voice

To sing of a treasure no pow’r can destroy

Jesus, your mercy is all my joy

O Lord, God of my salvation...

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

Begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you do; and that you can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have an opportunity to do so, either alone or with others, while at work, while at rest, or while walking down the street. Anywhere!  

-O. Hallesby

When you walk through fire...

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

 and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

-Isaiah 43:2

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them.  -CH Spurgeon 

Humility and love...

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

 -Isaiah 57:15

Humility and love are precisely the graces which the men of the world can understand, if they do not comprehend doctrines. They are the graces about which there is no mystery, and they are within reach of all classes. The poorest... Christian can every day find occasion for practicing love and humility.  

-J.C. Ryle 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. -2 Corinthians 5:17

Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural temper, a life wholly devoted to God. -William Law Image

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits...

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

    and in his word I hope;

 my soul waits for the Lord

    more than watchmen for the morning...

-Psalm 130:5-6

Faith is that which, knowing the Lord’s will, goes and does it; or, not knowing it, stands and waits, content in ignorance as in knowledge, because God wills; neither pressing into the hidden future, nor careless of the knowledge which opens the path of action.  -George MacDonald Image

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land...

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

    who do his just commands;

seek righteousness; seek humility;

    perhaps you may be hidden

    on the day of the anger of the Lord.

  -Zephaniah 2:3

To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven.  -J.C. Ryle

How Long, O Lord, How Long?

How Long, O Lord, How Long? (Psalm 13) 

 Sovereign Grace Music

VERSE 1

O Lord, our God, to You we come

Will You still hide Your face?

We cry before You and on our knees we pray

How long, O Lord, how long?

 

VERSE 2

Our sorrows leave us weak and worn

Surrounded by our fears

We look to heaven through feeble faith and tears

How long, O Lord, how long?

 

CHORUS

Till Your glory fills our eyes

And our faith is turned to sight

Till our thirsty souls are satisfied

How long, O Lord, how long?

 

VERSE 3

Our foes and enemies rejoice

Injustice seems to reign

Lord, we are shaken and we are losing strength

How long, O Lord, how long?

 

VERSE 4

But we will trust Your steadfast love

Your grace will be our song

You bring new mercies with ev’ry rising sun

How long, O Lord, how long?

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints...

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

    and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment,

    and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

     -Psalm 30:4-5

Pray without ceasing...

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

I have quitted all forms of devotion and set prayers but those to which my state obliges me. And I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention, and a general fond regard to God, which I may call an actual presence of God; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with God, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them, and prevent their appearance to others.  -Brother Lawrence