It will be worth it all.

 

It Will Be Worth It All

Verse 1:
Oft-times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear to catch His bride away,
All tears forever over in God's eternal day.

Chorus:
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Verse 2:
Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We're tossed and driven on, no human help in sight.
But there is One in heav’n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problems — just go to Him in prayer.

(Chorus)

Verse 3:
Life’s day will soon be o’er, all storms forever past,
We'll cross the great divide to glory safe at last.
We'll share the joys of heav’n — a harp, a home, a crown,
The tempter will be banished, we'll lay our burden down.

(Chorus)

Feelings are not God.

 My feelings are not God. God is God.

My feelings do not define truth.
God’s word defines truth.
My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives.
And sometimes – many times – my feelings are out of sync with the truth.
When that happens – and it happens every day in some measure – I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.

— John Piper, Finally Alive

Sob and Lament

 “I sob and lament for that I cannot be rid of sin. I desire to live a more perfect life.”

— John Knox

The Giving King.

1 Samuel 8.  Saul was a king who would "take."  (six times).  But the people were rejected God as King, though God was a giving King.  Despite the sin of the elders, God promises to send a holy King; and a King who gives.  These adjectives are not drawn from 1 Samuel 8, but still inspired to consider the nature of Jesus as the godly King and the King who gives.  

The Needed King.

The Promised King.

The Incarnate King.  (fully human! And fully God.)

The Trust-Worthy King.

The Righteous King.

The Obedient King.

The Reigning King.

The Living King.

The  Delivering King.

The Rescuing King.

The Humble King.

The Suffering King.

The Rejected King. 

The Sacrificial King.

The Resurrected King.

The Victorious King.

The Hope-filled King.

 The Eternal King.

The Giving King.

The Loving King.  Because He Loves He gives, He gives himself!

The Deserving King.

The Worthy King.

It's not our job

 Post by a J.C. Ryle twitter account, though perhaps not from the material of J.C. Ryle's works.

It’s not our job to convert people.
It’s not our job to save people.
It’s not our job to convict people.
It’s not our job to convince people.

It’s our job to tell people.

The convincing, convicting, converting, and saving is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Expect great things from God

If Christ be in you, then why should you not venture upon any work or service for God, although it do lie beyond you, and beyond your strength, and expect large and great things from him? You say, sometimes, you would do such or such a thing for God, but you have no strength to do it. But if Christ be in you, and really united unto your soul, then surely you shall have strength enough, and you may expect large and great things from him. Therefore, venture upon work and service for God; yea, although they do lie beyond your present strength, be not unwilling thereunto, but expect great things from God, because Christ is really in you. William Bridge

Rain Falls. Sure Command

 No one drop of rain falls without God's sure command.

John Calvin

Struggle

 Why Do Christians Still Struggle With Sin? Because God Is Glorifying Himself Through It.

JK is spot-on: the struggle is not evidence of fake faith, but of a living war between the new heart and the old flesh (Galatians 5:17). But let’s go a step further: Could God have glorified you immediately—removing the struggle altogether? Absolutely. He could’ve snapped His fingers at the moment of your conversion and glorified you fully—no more sin, no more fight. But He didn’t. Why? Because that struggle, that groaning, that daily war against sin is part of the design. It's not a flaw—it’s a feature. Here’s why: If God removed your sin struggle instantly, you would look like the hero. Your “faithfulness” would look flawless. Outsiders might assume: Wow, that person must have extraordinary willpower, or intelligence, or strength. Man would get the glory. But by leaving the remnants of the flesh, God ensures that your love for Him—your constant turning back to Him, repenting, running to Christ—is obviously supernatural. No one treasures God through pain unless God has changed their heart. No one says “no” to sin a thousand times unless they’ve been made new. That’s the point. This struggle puts God's power on display in the cracked clay pot of your weak, but enduring life (2 Corinthians 4:7). Your ongoing dependence on Him screams: “Christ is my treasure—more than sin, more than ease, more than pride.” And others watching? They’re not seeing perfection. They’re seeing a supernatural allegiance to Christ in the middle of the fight. And that glorifies God more than a perfect-looking life ever could. So fight. Fall. Repent. Rise again. And fight harder—not by your will, but by His Spirit. Because those who try to win by sheer human willpower will fail. But those who lean wholly on the Spirit and cling to Christ in the battle will endure—and through them, God will shine.

Ecclesiastes 10:20

 Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Increasingly Grieved

"If you are not increasingly grieved by your own sin, you are not growing as a Christian."

— Michael Reeves

Spiritual Deadness.

 God’s children are under [felt spiritual] deadness sometimes, which happeneth to them for many causes:

1. By reason of some sin committed, and not repented of, or not fully repented of. 2. By some good omitted, especially neglect of the means [of grace] whereby we may be kept alive, fresh and lively in God’s service. If we will not attend upon God in the means of grace, he will not bring us that help, comfort, and supply that otherwise we might have. 3. Another cause is unthankfulness for benefits received, especially spiritual benefits. 4. Pride in gifts; for we are told, ‘God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.’ The garland we put on our heads soon withers… 5. Some great and heavy troubles. When we are afflicted sore, there is a deadness upon the heart, the spiritual life clogged. 6. Another cause is carnal liberty, or intermeddling with worldly vanities. When the children of God let loose their minds to vanity, and take immoderate liberty in the delights of the flesh, there is a deadness [that] comes upon them. In such cases, the Word of God is the only means to quicken us (i.e bring us back to life, revive us). The quickening Spirit delights to work by this means. If you would be quickened, you must use the means, attend upon reading and preaching, and meditating upon the Word. —Puritan Thomas Manton, See: Works 7:429-31, 33 and 38

You can make me clean

 Repentance is the sinner covering his mouth and crying, “Unclean, unclean!” Faith is the leper coming to Christ and saying, “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.”

A.W. Pink

Countless Millions

 Now if there were but one mite (as you would say) amiss, it is certain that we were forthwith in danger of eternal death. But surely every of us shall find himself a sinner, not in some one point alone, but in a hundred thousand: not in some one fault, but in infinite sorts of faults. And when we shall have perceived never so many miseries in ourselves, God knows yet many more without comparison than we can: for he sees much clearer than we do.  

John Calvin.    (as found on Monergism .pdf.)

"Even if we were carefully to examine just one minute of our lives, we would find ourselves worthy of eternal death. Indeed, each one of us would discover ourselves to be sinners, not in just one area but a hundred thousand; not due to some one fault but to countless millions." 

John Calvin ,  (as found on twitter).

Rely on the God of Grace. Helplessness

 If we are not keenly sensitive to our helplessness, then we can make the means of sanctification the minister of self-righteousness and pride, thus defeating the end of sanctification.

We must rely not upon the means of sanctification but upon the God of all grace. John Murray

Valley of Vision

 “I step out into a wicked world, I carry about with me an evil heart, I know that without thee I can do nothing, and that everything with which I shall be concerned [today], however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by thy power.”

From Valley of Vision.

Sever Any Tie

 “God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours.”

— David Livingstone

he sees his sin

 The Nearer and Man gets to God, the greater he sees his sin.  Martin-Lloyd Jones.