Affect Our Hearts

 When by faith we have attained a view of the glory of Christ, in our contemplations on his person, we should not pass it over as a notion of truth which we assent unto, - namely, that he is thus glorious in himself, - but endeavour to affect our hearts with it.

John Owen

I need not torment myself

 I need not torment myself with the fear that my faith may fail; as grace led me to faith in the first place, so grace will keep me believing to the end. Faith, both in its origin and continuance, is a gift of grace.

J.I. Packer

 Taken Entirely from Monergism Blog:  Article entitled 

Resting in the Righteousness of Christ

To be united to Christ by grace though faith is to be counted as having lived His life, obeyed His law, suffered His punishment, died His death, and risen in His resurrection. The believer is not merely inspired by Christ; he is represented by Him. Christ’s perfect obedience was rendered on our behalf; He fulfilled every command of God’s law in our place (Romans 5:19; Galatians 4:4-5). His death was not merely an act of martyrdom. It was the full exhaustion of the law’s curse for our sin (Galatians 3:13). And His resurrection from the dead is the public declaration from God that the believer is now justified, fully accepted and acquitted in His sight (Romans 4:25; 1 Timothy 3:16).

This means justification is not a process, nor is it contingent upon our progress. It is a once-for-all verdict, grounded in the finished work of Christ, granted before we perform any act of obedience or experience any inward renewal (Titus 3:5-7). Our status before God does not rise and fall with our spiritual condition. It is as unchanging as the righteousness of Jesus Himself (Hebrews 13:8; 1 Corinthians 1:30). The gospel, then, assures trembling sinners that the moment they are in Christ, they are as justified as they ever will be (Romans 8:1; Colossians 2:10).

Such a gospel dismantles every attempt to mingle Christ’s righteousness with our own works. Even the slightest reliance on our obedience (whether in gaining or maintaining favor with God) undermines the very grace of the gospel (Galatians 2:21). It dishonors Christ by implying that His obedience was insufficient (Hebrews 10:14). Worse still, it leaves the conscience without peace, for if our standing with God is even partially based on our performance, we will never rest, never know security, and never truly be free from guilt (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 9:14).

But faith ... true, saving faith ... looks away from self entirely. It does not contribute; it receives. It rests wholly on the righteousness of Another (Philippians 3:9). This righteousness is not infused, earned, or grown into. It is imputed, credited by God Himself (Romans 4:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:21). It is alien to us, but ours by grace. In trusting Christ alone, the believer finds unshakable peace, because his salvation rests not on shifting sands, but on the finished and faultless work of the Son of God (Isaiah 32:17; John 19:30).

Rest, instead of Killing Ourselves with Care.

 When we wonder what God is doing with us, and are ready to kill ourselves with care; let us rest in God's wisdom. He knows best what he has to do.

Thomas Watson

Shall a silly passenger

On Distrusting God's Wisdom in Providence: 

"Shall a silly passenger, that understands not the use of a compass, be angry that the skillful pilot will not steer the vessel according to his pleasure? 

Stephen Charnock

Every day we fail

 Every day we fail. Every day Jesus remains spotless, and he is so for us, in our place.

Michael Reeves

Find Time to Pray

 “Why cannot men find time for prayer?

The only answer is because they do not love it.” — Charles Spurgeon

Crowning Comfort

 This is the crowning comfort to a sensible and understanding soul, that he stands righteous before a judgment seat in that full, exact, perfect, complete, matchless, spotless, and most acceptable righteousness of Christ which is imputed to him.

Puritan Thomas Brooks

The Works of Thomas Brooks, 3:485

Faithfully Performs

 "Whatever God mercifully promises, he also faithfully performs" - John Calvin, Institutes, III.xiii.4

Higher Level

 He who desires to be in an assured state, to have continual fellowship with God, to attain to a higher level of illumination & experience, and to fear God steadfastly, let him strictly observe his devotional time and let him not be neglectful in this.

—Wilhelmus à Brakel, 3:465

Hoornbeck no.1

 You can be assured that, since such feelings about sin (despair, regret, hatred) do not occur in an unconverted person, you, brought to this place through God's Spirit, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 converted & therefore share in the saving grace of God.

—Johannes Hoornbeeck, Spiritual Desertion, 81

Beloved by God

 Saving faith is a persuasion that we shall have life and salvation by Christ, or a receiving and resting on Him for salvation, included in it a knowledge of ourselves being beloved by God; the former cannot be without the latter.

--Thomas Boston

Morning Prayer Wilberforce

 O Lord, help me. I will try to assign at least an hour in the morning, and when circumstances will permit, the same in the evening, for Scripture reading, private devotion, and meditation.

--William Wilberforce

Stung to your Father's Feet

 “You would not pray if you did not have trouble. It is a blessing to be stung to your Father’s feet!”

— Charles Spurgeon

Frequent in Prayer

 Be frequent in prayer, and it will help you much. “Draw near to God” (James 4:8).

Complain of the slipperiness of your nature, of your weakness to withstand Satan’s assaults, and entreat God to give you strength that you may hold out. —John Cotton, Works 2:163

Pink's Study

 ARTHUR PINK’S STUDY METHODS

“In my early years I assiduously followed this threefold course:

First, I read through the entire Bible three times a year (eight chapters in the Old Testament, and two in the New Testament daily.) I steadily persevered in this for ten years, in order to familiarize myself with its contents, which can only be done by consecutive reading.

Second, I studied a portion of the Bible each week, concentrating for ten minutes (or more) each day on the same passage, pondering the order of it, the connection between each statement, seeking a definition of the important terms in it, looking up all the marginal references, being on the look-out for its typical significance.

Third, I meditated on one verse each day; writing it out on a slip of paper in the morning, memorizing it, consulting it at odd moments through the day; pondering separately each word in it, asking God to open for me its spiritual meaning and to write it on my heart. The verse was my food for that day, meditation standing to reading as mastication does to eating.

The more some such method as the above be followed out, the more shall we be able to say, ‘thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’ [Ps 119:105].”

~ Arthur Pink, "Letters of A.W. Pink"

As if you were

 "You stand before God as if you were Christ, because Christ stood before God as if He were you."

-Charles Spurgeon.

Complete Savior

 It is good to be humbled for sin, but not to be discouraged; for though we are poor creatures, Jesus is a complete Savior; and we bring more honor to God by believing in his name and trusting his word of promise, than we could do by a thousand outward works.

John Newton

Faith's Proper Exercise

 Faith which is truly divine, is never more in its proper exercise-doth never more elevate the soul into conformity unto God–than when it acts in the contemplation and admiration of the most incomprehensible mysteries which are proposed unto it by divine revelation.

--John Owen

Thankful for Thorns

 “Be thankful for the thorns and thistles which keep you from being in love with this world.”

— Charles Spurgeon

Affections Eternal

"Only human beings created in the image of God can enjoy God. Therefore, enjoyment matters. I mean, affections are who we are ultimately. The end of history, the end of creation, is not going to be merely rational creatures thinking rightly about God, little computers. It’s going to be people who are so perceptive spiritually of the glories of God that they are full of affections that are appropriate for those glories and can give expression to them. That’s what eternity will be.”

 Algorithms and the Affections

John Piper (Nov. 2025): “If you had thought that your essence of humanness in the image of God was your reasoning capacity, over an ape or a porpoise, you’re in trouble. Because, guess what? ChatGPT is smarter than you are and more creative than you are in expressing things in language that is good. It can write prayers better than you can, and it can reason through hard problems better than you can. Therefore, there are people who are going to forsake the faith because they thought to be a human in the image of God was to be a reasoning person over against the animals, and they discovered a machine can do it better than they can. Crisis of faith. This to me is no crisis because of my Christian Hedonism. I do not think that my reasoning capacities are my essence. I think the soul’s capacity to delight in God is my essence. The soul’s capacity to enjoy God. No machine will ever enjoy, period. It will have the language of enjoyment. You can tell it to write a poem of enjoyment and it will use the language. That machine is not enjoying *her*. It’s not. It never will.

Only human beings created in the image of God can enjoy God. Therefore, enjoyment matters. I mean, affections are who we are ultimately. The end of history, the end of creation, is not going to be merely rational creatures thinking rightly about God, little computers. It’s going to be people who are so perceptive spiritually of the glories of God that they are full of affections that are appropriate for those glories and can give expression to them. That’s what eternity will be.” Source: Sovereign Grace Churches, Pastors Conference PreCon (November 2025)