"Seeing Jesus with the Shepherds"

"Imagine you are a shepherd on the hillside, and when the heavenly host appears you are not to be afraid; you are to have joy. It is the same with all the teaching of the gospel that flows from the event when the shepherds saw and heard the angels, when they ran down the hill and looked upon Jesus. This is the difference it makes in our lives. 'And they worshiped him... with great joy.'" 


-Francis Schaeffer

Some Christmas Prose

Lights, gifts, and trees mark the Christmas season;
All of this can easily blur one's sight,
Keeping one from Jesus, the real reason
Behind the holiday hype, the True Light!

Dear friend, I hope at the end of this year
You can come before the Christ Child in awe,
Thankful for Immanuel, God so near,
The royal One upon a manger's straw.

Let's thank the LORD for coming so, so close!
He changed our hard hearts of stone into flesh,
Moving and stirring us to song and prose,
Glory, honor, and praise to give afresh!

-Eunice Im

one day

A few weeks ago, Beatrice went to be with the Lord at the age of 95. It's interesting when people pass away and I think about death... the reality of it. It seems far away, but it can happen anytime and to anyone and it will happen to everyone.

Even after many years, she was still striving to fight sin, love others, know God. When I think about how... Beatrice is no longer constrained in her feeble body, but fellowshipping with God so intimately, rejoicing, I don't know how to describe it but I'm speechless... joyful, have warm fuzzies, thankful.

I will be there one day, one day in paradise in perfect fellowship with God.

This was one song she knew from memory and would sing:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see

i asked the Lord

I Asked The Lord by John Newton

1. I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

2. Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

3. I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

4. Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part

5. Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

6. Lord why is this, I trembling cried
Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?
"Tis in this way" The Lord replied
"I answer prayer for grace and faith"

7. "These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me,
That thou mayest seek thy all in me."

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/I+Asked+the+Lord/ZdKSL

"Well done, good and faithful slave"

Is it more important to be faithful or successful?

Do I worry more about my inabilities that I waste my abilities?

Am I a "wicked, lazy slave"? (Matthew 25:14-30)

I pray that your love may abound still more and more

Something I've been constantly reminded of and rebuked as I've quoted before 2 Corinthians 5:14, is how to love. We love so imperfectly, but am I even striving to love in the right way? Scripture says many times to love one another and especially in light of God's love. What do I seek for others? For them to see that I love them or to see that God loves them? Usually the former... probably. It makes sense why we feel offended when they don't see our love rather than sadness that they don't see God's love. We want the glory. But it is much more delightful for others to see God's love because His love is great, beautiful, enduring, pure, lovely, powerful.
So is it better to desire for people whether believers or not to see God's love for them? And that includes even while doing little mundane things that I'm not self-seeking?

The apostle Paul begins many of his letters with thanksgiving and hope for the churches: "For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love my abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:8-11

wait

A friend said to me, "Isn't it funny how we ask God for patience, and we want it now?!"
I've been learning about patience and I'll leave this to you.

"The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
     To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
     For the salvation of the LORD."
                                      Lamentations 3:25-26

"Wait" by Russell Kelfer
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said,
"Child, you must wait."
"Wait?  You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened?  Or have You not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.

"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'Yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a "No' to which I can resign.

"And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And, Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
'I'm weary of asking!  I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel
And His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause the mountains to run.

"All you seek, I could give you, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--
But, you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me;
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you!

"So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, 'Wait.'"

Yet I will exult in the Lord

Though the fig tree should not blossom
   And there be no fruit on the vines,
   Though the yield of the olive should fail
   And the fields produce no food,
   Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
   And there be no cattle in the stalls, 
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
   I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

                                                   Habakkuk 3:17-18

God's kingdom

Was cleaning out my desk and stuff... and then I found my journal from freshmen year. I journaled that a brother prayed that we are not here for success or to build memories, but for God's kingdom. How I easily forget.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

'When God’s present kingdom consumes and saturates my entire life, that is how I am effective and will make a difference. It comes down to where every word, every thought, every action, and my entire being are to His glory, wherever He places me and whatever He puts me through for His matchless, invaluable kingdom.'

watch over your heart

"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." -Proverbs 4:23

The flesh is weak, the spirit is willing. Self-control, submission, trust in the Lord. We tell ourselves lies of temporary "pleasures" that weakens and dries the soul. The desires of the flesh can seem so subtle, but it may eat us up and we forget the Lord. That is why we always need to be on guard; there is no break from spiritual discipline. Lord, help us.

"You'll never amount to anything and you'll never accomplish anything of significance unless you learn habitually to do those things you don't like to do. You won't move ahead in life by letting it all hang out, by just doing what feels good in the moment, by following your passions. You only really make an impact in life by saying "no" to pleasurable but empty things and saying "yes" to the good things that may not be pleasant in the moment. And it is a sign of maturity to be able to do that, by the way. It's the sign of a mature Christian to say no to the short term pleasure in order to reap the long term good."

J.P. Moreland

blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

"My goal is God himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God." -Oswald Chambers

Christ and His church

Simply put, marriage is meant to be a picture of Christ and His church. All the other blessings in weddings, marriage are so small or maybe even nothing compared to this picture. This truth is accepted by believers (hopefully) but to love it, embrace it, value it does not come quickly.
I loved weddings ever since I was small. First because I loved being with all my cousins when a relative would get married. Then I loved weddings of people from church just because my friends were there as well. I just enjoyed the environment of weddings. Now seeing how couples aim to glorify God with their marriage, aim to be selfless and to serve, to diminish themselves so Christ can be lived out in their lives, to point each other to Christ - for the wife to submit to the husband, and the husband to lead and sacrifice for his wife - is very different than how I saw it before.
The book of Hosea speaks of how God loves His people, people who are like prostitutes. He pursues and loves and protects. Christ sanctifies His bride, He cleanses her, nourishes her, cherishes her (Eph 5)... He died for her. How wonderful of a husband Christ is to His church.

(not sure if to relate God's promises to Israel the same to the church, but still reveals the character of God)
"I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

"The graciousness of uncertainty"

one of my favorites from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest"

He quotes 1 John 3:2b but I like both verses one and two:
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere. Common sense says - "Well, supposing I were in that condition..." We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.
Certainty is the mark of common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him. Jesus said, "Except ye... become as little children." Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.
"Believe also in Me," said Jesus, not - "Believe certain things about Me." Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.

why be holy?

I know in this Christian walk we will be sanctified. We are to strive towards holiness and godliness. We are to be like Christ. We are to love, to fight sin, to trust in God, to be a light in the world, etc. But why? I don't know why I asked the "why" question because I know that these are fruits of a believer. We were created to worship and do good works. I sound like I don't believe because I ask the why question. Thinking about it more, it cannot be merely because it's fruit of a Christian or even because we will be rewarded. Then I was reminded that it's because.... God loves me. Somehow it makes sense. His love controls me. (2 Cor 5:14)

But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
Ephesians 2:4-5

"My ways are higher"

"How are you?"
"I'm fine"
"Why aren't you... fantastic??"
"Because I'm a sinner and live in a sinful world."

That is true and that is how I feel very often... not fantastic. I see my shortcomings, sins, but also especially the world not spinning the way I want it to. What I want or my will is very often not the way God wants or wills for my life. I hold on tightly to my desires that do not align with God's. God will always have His way. =/

But then I realize that His ways are higher than my ways. His ways are better than my ways. It takes a lot of discipline and breaking of my pride to realize that if I trust in Him and His ways, I can delight more. I can delight in His goodness, His character, His love, His gifts, His salvation. I can delight in Him.

Isaiah 55

Let us love and sing and wonder

by John Newton

1. Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame
He has washed us with His blood
He has brought us nigh to God

2. Let us love the Lord Who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes
He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

3. Let us sing though fierce temptation
Threatens hard to bear us down
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown
He, Who washed us with His blood,
Soon will bring us home to God

4. Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God

5. Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted Him before us
Now their praises fill the sky
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood
Thou art worthy Lamb of God

"I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners"

What would this look like today?

   Matthew decided to have a banquet to introduce Jesus to his friends. Like most new believers, he wanted to bring everyone he knew to Christ. Luke 5:29 reveals that Matthew (who was also known as Levi) held the banquet in his own house. Jesus was the honored guest. This gathering was attended by some of the most notorious, base, villainous people in the history of banquets. The only people Matthew knew were sordid types, wretched sinners, because no one else would associate with him. The respectable people despised him. His friends were thieves, blasphemers, prostitutes, con artists, swindlers, and other tax collectors - the riffraff of society.
  Supercilious religious types would say, of course, that Jesus shouldn't go to a banquet with such degenerates. That is exactly what the Pharisees thought. But that was not the way of the Savior. Matthew 11:19 indicates that He was known among the people as "a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners." This very banquet probably gave rise to that perception. The Pharisees meant it derisively, but it was nonetheless a fitting title for the Son of Man.
  Matthew 9:10 sets the scene: "It happened that as He was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax-gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples." This was so scandalous to the self-righteous Pharisees that they could hardly conceal their shock. If he were really the Messiah, they thought, he would be having a dinner for us!

The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur

"It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew 9:12-13 

"God be merciful to me, the sinner"

Read this many times and each time is convicting.

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14

Sometimes it's just thinking to the self and not even in prayer, like the Pharisee that I am doing something better, different, right compared to another or a standard I make. I give myself a pat on the back unknowingly. Lack of faith, gratitude, humility, and full of self-dependence. Must come before the High King, broken.


beginning to really like the gospels

directions for dealing with sins

Some ways to deal with sins (from Respectable Sins)
1. apply the Gospel
-remember we are already forgiven
-we are credited Christ's righteousness
2. rely on the Holy Spirit
3. recognize our responsibility; pursue steps for dealing with sins
4. identify specific areas of acceptable sins
5. have scripture to each subtle sin
6. pray over sins we tolerate
7. involve other believers

It's been so helpful to just think about these things and think about why even bother to deal with sin. Dealing with sin just always seems so frustrating, like a forced obligation, undesirable... but no Romans 6 says we are free from the bondage of sin. And the greatest thing isn't just our sanctification but what our sanctification leads to --> seeing and treasuring God even more(!) because sin separates us from God. It's already evident that sin separates people.

What I have given up for Christ

"I have given up a life of absolute loss, and in return I have received a life of absolute gain."

Christine Winarko

These inward trials

What is the purpose of grace? Primarily, to restore our relationship with God. When God lays the foundation of this restored relationship, by forgiving our sins as we trust his Son, he does so in order that henceforth we and he may live in fellowship. And what he does in renewing our nature is intended to make us capable of, and actually to lead us into, the exercise of love, trust, delight, hope and obedience Godward - those acts which, from our side, make up the reality of fellowship with God, who is constantly making himself known to us. This is what all the work of grace aims at - an ever deeper knowledge of God, and an ever closer fellowship with him. Grace is God drawing us sinners closer and closer to himself.
How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to him more closely. This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another: it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast. The reason why the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating that God is a strong rock, a firm defense, and a sure refuge and help for the weak, is that God spends so much of his time bringing us home to us that we are weak, both mentally and morally, and dare not trust ourselves to find, or to follow, the right road.
When we walk along a clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help us, as likely as not we shall impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught in rough country in the dark, with a storm getting up and our strength spent, and someone takes our arm to help us, we shall thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn thankfully to lean on him. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of the self-confidence to trust in himself- in the classical scriptural phrase for the secret of the godly life, to "wait on the Lord."

Knowing God by JI Packer 

"The glorious excellencies and beauty of God..."

The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield then delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them. 

Jonathan Edwards

who do I fear?

I know God is my Father. I know He has adopted me. I know He loves me. But do I think, feel, believe, act, trust as if these are true? Thinking is a good thing, but sometimes too much is quite unnecessary which I tend to do. “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

Thinking about this makes me laugh at myself. Why do I fear man? Why do I care about what others think, whether Christian or not? Being considerate is good, but being controlled and consumed by man’s opinion isn’t. They may be able to offer accolades, money, some sort “comfort”. But it’s silly to forget that it is rather God’s opinion that matters. He sees everything done in public and in secret, and He will reward in His own sovereign way. He is my Father, and I do not need to be afraid of losing His favor because of Christ’s work on the cross. Therefore when I am trying to please men, tired of discouragements, or prideful of my popularity, I need to remember that I really am nothing before God and man’s opinion means nothing; I can turn to my Father Who loves me dearly though I do not deserve His love and give thanks to Him.

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross  by Arthur Pink

5. Here we may see the basis of our salvation.

God is holy and therefore he will not look upon sin. God is just and therefore he judges sin wherever it is found. But God is love as well: God delighteth in mercy, and therefore infinite wisdom devised a way whereby justice might be satisfied and mercy left free to flow out to guilty sinners. This way was the way of substitution, the just suffering for the unjust. The Son of God himself was the one selected to be the substitute, for none other would suffice. Through Nahum, the question had been asked, "Who can stand before his indignation"? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?" (1:6). This question received its answer in the adorable person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone could "stand". One only could bear the curse and yet rise a victor above it. One only could endure all the avenging wrath and yet magnify the law and make it honourable. One only could suffer his heel to be bruised by Satan and yet in that bruising destroy him that had the power of death. God laid hold upon one that was "mighty" (Ps. 89:19). One who was no less than the Fellow of Jehovah, the radiance of his glory, the exact impress of his person. Thus we see that boundless love, inflexible justice and omnipotent power all combined to make possible the salvation of those who believe.

At the cross all our iniquities were laid upon Christ and therefore did divine judgment fall upon him. There was no way of transferring sin without also transferring its penalty. Both sin and its punishment were transferred to the Lord Jesus. On the cross Christ was making propitiation, and propitiation is solely Godwards. It was a question of meeting the claims of God’s holiness; it was a matter of satisfying the demands of his justice. Not only was Christ’s blood shed for us, but it was also shed for God: he "hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2). Thus it was foreshadowed on the memorable night of the Passover in Egypt: the lamb’s blood must be where God’s eye could see it - "When I see the blood, I will pass over you!"

The death of Christ on the cross was a death of curse: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13). The "curse" is alienation from God. This is apparent from the words which Christ will yet speak to those that shall stand on his left hand in the day of his power - "Depart from me, ye cursed" he will say (Matthew 25:41). The curse is exile from the presence and glory of God.

This explains the meaning of a number of Old Testament types. The bullock which was slain on the annual Day of Atonement, after its blood had been sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat, was removed to a place without(outside) the Camp" (Leviticus 16:27) and there its entire carcass was burned. It was in the centre of the camp that God had his dwelling-place, and exclusion from the camp was banishment from the presence of God. Thus it was, too, with the leper. "All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be" (Lev. 13:46) - this was because the leper was the embodied type of the sinner. Here also is the anti-type of the "brazen serpent". Why did God instruct Moses to set a "serpent" on a pole, and bid the bitten Israelites look upon it? Imagine a serpent as a type of Christ the Holy One of God! Yes, but it represented him as "made a curse for us", for the serpent was the reminder of the curse. On the cross then Christ was fulfilling these Old Testament foreshadowings. He was "outside the camp" (compare Hebrews 13:12) - separated from the presence of God. He was as the "leper" - made sin for us. He was as the "brazen serpent" - made a curse for us. Hence too, the deep meaning of the crown of thorns - the symbol of the curse! Lifted up, his brow encircled with thorns, to show he was bearing the curse for us.

Here, too, is the significance of the three hours darkness which lay over the land as a pall of death. It was supernatural darkness. It was not night for the sun was at its zenith. As Mr. Spurgeon well said, "It was midnight at midday". It was no eclipse. Competent astronomers tell us that at the time of the crucifixion the moon was at her farthest from the sun. But this cry of Christ’s gives the meaning of the darkness, as the darkness gives us the meaning of that bitter cry. One thing alone can explain this darkness, as one thing alone can interpret this cry - that Christ had taken the place of the guilty and lost ones, that he was in the place of sin-bearing, that he was enduring the judgment due his people, that he who knew no sin was "made sin" for us. That cry was uttered that we might be allowed to know of what passed there. It was the manifestation of atonement, so to speak for three (three hours) is ever the number of manifestation. God is light and the "darkness" is the natural sign of his turning away. The Redeemer was left alone with the sinner’s sin: that was the explanation of the three hours darkness. Just as there will rest upon the damned a twofold misery in the lake of fire, namely, the pain of sense and the pain of loss; so upon Christ answerably, he suffered the outpoured wrath of God and also the withdrawal of his presence and fellowship.

For the believer the cross is interpreted in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ". He was my substitute; God reckoned me one with the Saviour. His death was mine. He was wounded for my transgressions and bruised formy iniquities. Sin was not pushed away but put away. As another has said, "Because God judged sin on the Son, he now accepts the believing sinner in the Son". Our life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I am shut up in Christ because Christ was shut out from God.

He suffered in our stead, he saved his people thus;
The curse that fell upon his head, was due by right to us.
The storm that bowed his blessed head, is hushed for ever now
And rest Divine is mine instead, while glory crowns his brow.

Here then is the basis of our salvation. Our sins have been borne. God’s claims against us have been fully met. Christ was forsaken of God for a season that we might enjoy his presence for ever. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Let every believing soul make answer: he entered the awful darkness that I might walk in the light; he drank the cup of woe that I might drink the cup of joy; he was forsaken that I might be forgiven!

every Sunday

"Every day belongs to God. But Sunday is the Lord's day in a special way. Jesus has owned it uniquely ever since that first Easter when He stepped out of the empty tomb. Think of it. On that morning, for the first time, He had conquered death. He had atoned for our sin. He had made a way for us to come boldly into the presence of the Father. And every Sunday since has been an anniversary of that amazing morning. The Savior has risen - and everything has changed"
Stop dating the Church by Joshua Harris

from a letter...

How is your heart doing today? You know what's amazing and scary to think about? God can hear the thoughts and inclinations of our hearts as if we were yelling at Him with a loudspeaker. He doesn't miss anything! Doesn't thinking about this make you want to run to Christ? As the thoughts and attitudes of your heart are tested, run to Christ, and remember that God looks upon you with favor because of Jesus.

i am loved

We (the sisters) are loved by our brothers as they remind us of Christ's love.

I am loved by Becca :D as she shows me Christ's love for me.

I am loved by God

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

dear refuge of my weary soul

1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

2. But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

3. Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner's prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

4. Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet

by Anne Steel

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Dear+Refuge+Of+My+Weary+Soul/ZdHwH

words

Have you ever realized that words are everywhere? When we think, we are thinking in terms of words. When we study, there are A LOT of words. When we read the Bible, pray, talk, use the computer there are a lot of words. How weighty are words?

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

1. I resolve to ask God for wisdom to speak out of a single-minded devotion to him (1:5).
2. I resolve to boast only in the exultation I receive in Jesus Christ and also in the humiliation I receive for Jesus Christ (1:9-10).
3. I resolve to set a watch over my mouth (1:13).
4. I resolve to be constantly quick to hear and slow to speak (1:19).
5. I resolve to learn the gospel way of speaking to both rich and poor (2:1-4).
6. I resolve to speak in the present consciousness of my final judgment (2:12).
7. I resolve never to stand on anyone’s face with the words I employ (2:16).
8. I resolve never to claim as reality in my life what I do not truly experience (3:14).
9. I resolve to resist quarrelsome words as evidence of a bad heart that needs to be mortified (4:1).
10. I resolve never to speak decided evil against another out of a heart of antagonism (4:11).
11. I resolve never to boast in any thing 'bout what I will accomplish (4:13).
12. I resolve to speak as one subject to the providences of God (4:15).
13. I resolve never to grumble. The judge is at the door (5:9).
14. I resolve never to allow anything but total integrity in everything I say (5:12).
15. I resolve to speak to God in prayer whenever I suffer (5:13).
16. I resolve to sing praises to God whenever I’m cheerful (5:14).
17. I resolve to ask for the prayers of others when I’m in need (5:14).
18. I resolve to confess it whenever I have failed (5:15).
19. I resolve to pray with others for one another whenever I am together with them (5:15).
20. I resolve to speak words of restoration when I see another wander (5:19).

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/41/3258_The_Tongue_the_Bridle_and_the_Blessing_An_Exposition_of_James_3112/

"Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak" (Jonathan Edwards resolution #70)

And yet when we stumble and fail and sin, we remember that God forgives us and there is freedom from sin. Christ paid the punishment for our words. Here Piper talks about our inadequacy to love perfectly, but "faith comes first" and the Gospel saves.

From Finally Alive by John Piper

At the beginning of the chapter he quotes 1 John 5:1-5

"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

"... One of my aims here is to show that our ability to love others imperfectly is based on our assurance that in Christ we already love them perfectly. In other words, I want you to see for yourselves that, even when you fail to love as you ought, Christ's perfection stands before God in place of that failure. And I want you to see that faith in Christ, not love for people, is the way you enjoy that union with Christ. Therefore, faith must come first and be the root of love and be different from love. Otherwise, love will be destroyed.
If you don't come at love this way, your failures will probably overwhelm you with guilt and hopelessness. If that happens, you will give way either to hardworking legalism or fatalistic immorality."

God jealously desires our purity

From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis after Eustace became a dragon:

"The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I dont know if he said any words out loud or not.

I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and , instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I jsut stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.

But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.

Then the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke - 'You will have to let me undress you.' I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

The very first tear he made was do deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.

Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.

After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me - (with his paws?) - Well, I don't exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. and then suddenly I was back here. Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."

Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'

Ezekiel 33:11

take each other seriously

"The weight of glory, does not mean we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously." - C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory