NOT STORMS

 

Hidden Fault

 What is your hidden fault? Bring it out into the daylight; perhaps it will die in the light of the sun. These things love to be hidden. Tell your own conscience now, what is it? Look it in the eye; confess it before God, and may he give you grace to remove that sin and every other, and turn to him with full purpose of heart! Geoff Thomas.

DESERVE THE GALLOWS

 If the sins known to my heart were published to the world, I would deserve the gallows. To be sure, the world now respects me. But if it really knew me, it would spit on me. Martin Luther

“No one among us would like to see his true history inscribed on his forehead. . . . If the sins known to my heart were published to the world, I would deserve the gallows. To be sure, the world now respects me. But if it really knew me, it would spit on me; for I would deserve beheading.” – Martin Luther, Luther’s Works 22:403

LOVE FLOWS FORTH

 Christ adds not one drop of love to God's heart, only draws it out, and makes it flow forth. -- Thomas Goodwin

LIFE IS SHORT

Your life is short, your duties many, your assistance great, and your reward sure. Therefore faint not, hold on and hold up, in ways of well-doing, and Heaven shall make amends for all! (Thomas Brooks)

REST IS A GIFT FROM GOD

 Rest is a gift from God. We should embrace physical and spiritual rest as much as we embrace productivity and fruitfulness. Embracing rest is a godly and righteous activity. Nick Batzig.

Over-Rule Even Our Mistakes

 We serve a gracious Master, who knows how to over-rule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage. John Newton.

To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that all things which fall out shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over. —Thomas Watson

Dairy Maid

 "A dairymaid can milk cows to the glory of God."

~ Martin Luther Powerful quote from Mike Reeves: God has torn the temple curtain, and nothing you do can mend it! Translation while addressing God's people: Your sins cannot separate you from God.

Great Compilation

“Love makes duty a pleasure.” — Thomas Watson

Oh, courage, courage, Christian, in all your sorrows—Christ will win you back that glorious happiness which Adam lost for you. --Charles Spurgeon

Anyone who has come to feel the Father’s love towards us will be able to bear all the misfortune that there may be on earth. -- Martin Luther

Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of Eternity. - Charles Spurgeon

“Whatever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand - in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science - he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of God. He is employed in the service of his God. He has strictly to obey his God. And above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God.”

― Abraham Kuyper

“The curse should no longer rest upon the world itself, but upon that which is sinful in it, and instead of monastic flight from the world the duty is now emphasized of serving God in the world, in every position in life.” ― Abraham Kuyper "Faith is not our savior. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us, and gave itself for us; that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died and rose again for our sins. Faith is one thing, the Savior is another. Faith is one thing, and the cross is another. Let us not confound them, nor ascribe to a poor, imperfect act of man, that which belongs exclusively to the Son of the Living God. Our security is this, that it matters not how poor or weak our faith may be: if it touches the perfect One, all is well. God has asked and provided a perfect righteousness; He nowhere asks nor expects a perfect faith. So a feeble, very feeble faith, will connect us with the righteousness of the Son of God; the faith, perhaps, that can only cry, ‘Lord, I believe; help mine unbelief.’" - Horatius Bonar Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair; but great thoughts of Christ will pilot you into the haven of peace. ~C.H. Spurgeon "The gospel will teach a man to feel sin and believe righteousness at the same time. Faith will carry heaven in one hand and hell in the other; showing one deserved and the other purchased." - John Owen The road to the Kingdom is not so pleasant, and comfortable, and easy, and flowery, as many dream. It is not a bright sunny avenue of palms. It is not paved with triumph, though it is to end in victory. The termination is glory, honor, and immortality; but on the way, there is the thorn in the flesh, the sackcloth, and the cross. Recompense later; but labor here! Rest later; but weariness here! Joy and security later; but here endurance and watchfulness – the race, the battle, the burden, the stumbling block, and oftentimes the heavy heart. - Horatius Bonar "I frequently hear persons exhorted to give their hearts to Christ...But that is not the Gospel. Salvation comes from something that Christ gives you, not something that you give to Christ." ~Charles Spurgeon

"The main care and concern of our life should be to seek God. We should long for Him with all the affection of our hearts, and not find rest and peace anywhere except in Him alone."

~ Good Quote. A man cannot indulge in sin, and yet go to his bed with a quiet conscience; at least, if he can do so, this callousness is of itself a still greater evil. --CHS.

He gives us His obedience

 

Compilation Mega

 Christian, what bad news has Christ brought from heaven with him, that makes you walk with your arms folded and pensive countenance? To see a wicked man merry, or a Christian sad is alike uncomely. "A feast is made for laughter," says Solomon. I am sure God intended his people's joy in the feast of the Gospel; mourners were not to sit at God's table (Deut. 26:14).

Truly the saint's heaviness reflects unkindly upon God himself. We do not commend his cheer, if it does not cheer us. What saith the world? "The Christian's life is but a melancholy walk," thinks the carnal wretch, "it is a dry feast they sit at, where so little wine of joy is drunk." And will you confirm them in this their opinion, Christian? Shall they have your example to produce against Christ and his Word, which promises peace and joy to all that will come to this feast?...

Now will they believe 'tis good news indeed the Gospel brings, when they can read it in your cheerful lives; but when they observe Christians sad with this cup of salvation in their hands, truly they will suspect the wine in it is not so good as the preachers commend it... O Christians, let the world see you are not losers in your joy, since you have been acquainted with the Gospel; give them not cause to think by your uncomfortable walking, that when they become Christians, they must bid farewell to all joy, and resolve to spend their days in the hour of mourning.

--William Gurnall,

"This was the one who had reclined on Jesus' bosom at the supper . . . " John 21:20

The bosom of Jesus still pillows the head of the weary, loving disciple of the Lord. There is no real rest for the soul, but in Jesus.

Where should the Christ-loved, the Christ-loving disciple lean, with his sins and sorrows, with his weariness and want--but upon the bosom of his Lord? It is the place of repose, of faith, and of love.

There is room for you there amid the countless ones who fly to it for consolation, safety, and repose. Go and lean with your burden, your grief, and your sin--where the beloved disciple reclined; and you shall realize the blessedness of the oneness, confidence, and affection which exist between Jesus and all the disciples whom He loves. -- Octavius Winslow

The tenets of [the Christian life] seem paradoxes to carnal men; as first, that a Christian is the only freeman, and other men are slaves; that he is the only rich man, though never so poor in the world; that he is the only beautiful man, though outwardly never so deformed; that he is the only happy man in the midst of all his miseries.

—Richard Sibbes

‎"All promises are either Christ himself, or by Christ, or from Christ, or for Christ. All promises that ever were made to God's people, they were either of Christ Himself, when He was promised, or such as were promised for Christ."

- Richard Sibbes

"The sin of Adam did not make the condemnation of all men merely possible; it was the ground of their actual condemnation. So the righteousness of Christ did not make the salvation of men merely possible, it secured the actual salvation of thos for whom he wrought."

Charles Hodge

"The best teaching in the world is useless unless the Holy Spirit takes hold of it and applies it and opens our understanding to it, and gives it a deep lodging place in our whole being."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of Him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.” - Jonathan Edwards;

It is the principle of replacement. Every sinner quickly replaces awe of the Creator with awe of something in the creation. Paul David Tripp,

"If God has laid your sins upon the Son of His love, you may rest assured that He will never lay them a second time upon you; since, if Christ has borne them and atoned for them to Divine justice, they never again can be found." - Octavius Winslow

"Take away the knowledge of Christ, and a Christian is the most sad and melancholy creature in the world: again, let Christ but manifest himself, and dart the beams of his light into their souls, it will make them kiss the stake, sing in the flames, and shout in the pangs of death, as men that divide the spoil."

Flavel, John. The Works of John Flavel, 6 Vols. 1820.

When Jonathan Edwards became still and knew that God is God, the vision before his eyes was of an absolutely sovereign God, self-sufficient in himself and all-sufficient for his creatures, infinite in holiness, and therefore perfectly glorious—that is, infinitely beautiful in all his perfections. God’s actions therefore are never motivated by the need to meet his deficiencies (since he has none), but are always motivated by the passion to display his glorious sufficiency (which is infinite). He does everything that he does—absolutely everything—for the sake of displaying his glory.

Our duty and privilege, therefore, is to conform to this divine purpose in creation and history and redemption—namely, to reflect the value of God’s glory—to think and feel and do whatever we must to make much of God. Our reason for being, our calling, our joy is to render visible the glory of God. -- from Piper.

Daily Compilation

Are you in despair? It's because you are looking to your self. Look to Christ, in Him there is no despair. - (forgot who said).

"We have no power from God unless we live in the persuasion that we have none of our own." - John Owen

When things happen in my life that I don't understand, I find solace in the firm belief that..."God is protecting me from something." I don't know what it is, but I trust that these eventful weeks and months are all according to His wonderful plan for His glory and my good. -- (my testimony.)

The Church shall never perish!

Her dear Lord to defend,

To guide, sustain, and cherish,

Is with her to the end:

Though there be those who hate her,

And false sons in her pale,

Against both foe or traitor

She ever shall prevail.

Though with a scornful wonder

Men see her sore oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder,

By heresies distressed:

Yet saints their watch are keeping,

Their cry goes up, “How long?”

And soon the night of weeping

Shall be the morn of song!

Before it is called to do anything, the church is called to receive something-and not only once, but again and again: namely the announcement that even in its weakness, suffering, half-heartedness, and a legacy of faith stained by unfaithfulness, Christ is King. ~Michael Horton (The Gospel-Driven Life)

If we preach the whole counsel of God, we shall be accused of extremism, not only by the world but also by a professing church that cannot endure sound doctrine.

~~Vance Havner

Lead an Army to Battle

 

Preach the Word

 From Don Green:

In days of strength, preach the Word.

In days of weakness, preach the Word.

In days of joy, preach the Word.

In days of sorrow, preach the Word.

When people come, preach the Word.

When people go, preach the Word.

When men praise you, preach the Word.

When men slander you, preach the Word.

When prosperity blesses, preach the Word.

When poverty humbles, preach the Word.

When the church grows, preach the Word.

When the church splits, preach the Word.

In elder unity, preach the Word.

In elder conflict, preach the Word.

When the world listens, preach the Word.

When the world mocks, preach the Word.

With family near, preach the Word.

With family far, preach the Word.

When you feel like it, preach the Word.

When you don’t, preach the Word.

If people notice, preach the Word.

If people ignore, preach the Word.

When you feel the Spirit, preach the Word.

When you feel the devil, preach the Word.

When you remember Jesus, preach the Word.

When you remember Judas, preach the Word.

By the crib, preach the Word.

By the grave, preach the Word.

When sinners repent, preach the Word.

When sinners rebel, preach the Word.

With youthful strength, preach the Word.

With dying breath, preach the Word.

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Collection

 God is not troubled by anything that is now taking place in His world - either in its political, social, or religious sphere; nor should we be troubled. The helm is still in His hand; and Satan himself cannot so much as touch a hair of our heads, without His direct permission. ~A.W. Pink

"He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit" -Good Quote.

"Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last."

Horatius Bonar

"Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship - and not as ends in themselves." Francis Schaeffer

"Indeed, the generality of men that are trained up in a Protestant country will tell you that they do not expect to be justified by their own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ. But alas! How few are there that do really and actually submit unto this righteousness. There is a cursed bias in the heart of man to lean to something in himself. Is not this the language of thy heart many times? O! If I had such a frame, such a melting of heart, such love, such a degree of humility and obedience, then I think God would accept of me, and love me on that account. But, Sirs, let me tell you, it is not on account of anything wrought in you, or done by you, but only on the account of the doing and dying of the Son of God.” Ebenezer Erskine

"It's the role of grace in sanctification that sometimes troubles us...People worry that emphasizing grace undermines obedience. Consistently preaching the necessity and the proper motivation for holiness may be the most difficult task evangelical preachers face because we culturally define grace as license rather than the biblical power of holiness...Grace is the power of obedience not the antidote to obedience." Bryan Chapell;

We are good marketers and good moralists, but too often we are shallow theologians. - David Clotfelter-

The man who is trying to be a Christian is trying to hold on to something. The man who is a Christian feels that he is being held by something. It has been put to him, it is there; it may even seem to be in spite of him, but it is there. It is not what he is doing that matters to him; it is what has been done to him, it is what he has become, it is the awareness of this power within him -- life." - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"We shall never be fit for service of God, if we look not beyond this fleeting life"- Good Quote.

Compilation

 Happy were it, if puzzled and perplexed Christians would turn their eyes from the defects that are in their obedience, to the fullness and completeness of Christ's obedience; and see themselves complete in Him, when most lame and defective in themselves. - John Flavel,

"The study of truth in its academic more than in its devotional form has robbed it of its freshness and power, engendering formality and coldness." ~ Horatius Bonar

"O for a better heart! O for a heart to love God more; to hate sin more; to walk more evenly with God. Lord! deny not to me such a heart; whatever thou deny me: give me a heart to fear thee, to love and delight in thee, if I beg my bread in desolate places." ~John Flavel

[Christ] is the head of the whole world by way of dominion, but a head to the Church by way of union... - Flavel

If we try to get up warm feelings and good dispositions in order to remove some fancied remainder of distance, we shall fail; not simply because these actings of ours cannot do what we are trying to do, but because there is no need of any such effort. The thing is done already. God has brought his righteousness nigh to the sinner. Horatius Bonar

Grant me never to lose sight of The exceeding sinfulness of sin, The exceeding righteousness of salvation, The exceeding glory of Christ, The exceeding beauty of holiness, The exceeding wonder of grace.

~The Valley Of Vision~Prayers of the Puritans ;

Which is more important. A. Someone visiting your blog or FB post; B. God visiting your prayer-closet.

All our thoughts concerning Christ and his glory should be accompanied with admiration, adoration, and thanksgiving. For this is such an object of our thoughts and affections as, in this life, we can never fully comprehend,—an ocean whose depths we cannot look into. If we are spiritually renewed, all the faculties of our souls are enabled by grace to exert their respective powers towards this glorious object. ~John Owen

Sorrow Devotional from Gracegems

 When a holy and beloved object of our affection is removed by death, we ought to sorrow--humanity demands it, and Christianity, in the person of the weeping Jesus, allows it. The man without a tear, is a savage or a stoic--but not a Christian.

God intends when He bestows His gifts, that they should be received with smiles of gratitude; and when He recalls them, that they should be surrendered with "drops of sacred grief." Sorrow is an affection implanted by the Creator in the soul for wise and beneficent purposes; and it ought not to be ruthlessly torn up by the roots, but directed in its exercise by reason and piety.

The work of grace, though it is above nature--is not against it. The man who tells me not to weep at the grave--insults me, mocks me and wishes to degrade me! Tears are the silent, pure, sincere testimony of my heart to the excellence of the gift He gave in mercy; and in mercy, no doubt, as well as judgment, He has recalled.

But then, though we mourn, we must not murmur. We may sorrow, but not with the violent and uncontrolled grief of the heathen who have no hope. Our sorrow may flow as deep as we like--but noiseless and still in the channels of submission.

It must be a sorrow so quiet as to hear all the words of consolation which our Heavenly Father utters amidst the gentle strokes of His rod.

It must be a sorrow so reverential as to adore Him for the exercise of His prerogative in taking away what and whom He pleases.

It must be a sorrow so composed as to prepare us for doing His will, as well as bearing it.

It must be a sorrow so meek and gentle as to justify Him in all His dispensations.

It must be a sorrow so confiding as to be assured that there is as much love in taking the mercy away, as there was in bestowing it.

It must be a sorrow so grateful as to be thankful for the mercies left, as well as afflicted for the mercies lost.

It must be a sorrow so trustful as to look forward to the future with hope.

It must be a sorrow so patient as to bear all the aggravations that accompany or follow the bereavement, with unruffled acquiescence.

It must be a sorrow so holy as to lift the prayer of faith for divine grace to sanctify the stroke.

--John Angell James

If you could but see

 If you could but see how God in his secret counsel has exactly laid the whole plan of your salvation, even to the smallest means and circumstances; had you liberty to make your own choice, you would, of all conditions in the world, choose that in which you now are. -- John Flavel

Don Green Devotion on Prayer

 From Don Green:

Christian friends, what follows from Martin Luther is a critical principle to grasp for your spiritual growth.

The power of prayer is not found in your flawed devotion, effort, eloquence, or many words.

Christ alone is the basis upon which our prayers are heard.

That frees you to speak plainly and directly in the presence of God.

Better to pray five words humbly trusting in the name of Christ than to follow the human rules of 5000 prayer conferences.

And now from Luther. Long live biblical truth. Long live the Reformation:

"Some fail disastrously in prayer. They nullify it, for they utter it merely with their lips and not with their hearts. They will not believe that they are heard until they imagine that they have prayed well and worthily. Thus they build on themselves.

"A prayer is not good because of its length, devoutness, sweetness, or its plea for temporal or eternal goods. Not your zeal, but [Christ and] God's Word render your prayer good.

"Only that prayer is acceptable which breathes a firm confidence and trust that it will be heard because of the reliable pledge and promise of God [found in Scripture alone]."

~ Martin Luther

"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

The Church is an Anvil

 The triumph of their enemies has never been entire and complete. They have had their "hour," but they have had no more. After the persecution about Stephen, came the conversion of Paul. After the martyrdom of John Huss, came the German Reformation. After the Marian persecution, came the establishment of English Protestantism.-- J.C. Ryle

It belongs to the church of God to receive blows rather than to inflict them -- but, she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers. -- Theodore Beza

Weak as this true Church may appear to the eye of man, it is an anvil which has broken many a hammer in times past, and perhaps will break many more before the end. -- J.C. Ryle

The anvil broke the hammer by bearing all the blows that the hammer could place upon it. The patience of the saints was stronger than the cruelty of tyrants.-- Charles Spurgeon

When you cease from labor, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: and while your hands are laboring, let your heart be employed, as much as possible, in divine thoughts. -- David Brainerd

Why, these are sham Christians; they are not genuine Christians; they are of the world, and do the things of the world. We may conclude that their hearts and natures are worldly, for if they were spiritual they would love spiritual things, and their hearts would be engaged in spiritual exercises.-- Charles Spurgeon