Monday, May 17, 2010

oh what the price

in this incredible sermon on taking up your cross, Derek Thomas contrasts what it meant for Jesus in order for us to be able to receive the acceptance of God.... so i'll do the same here, from Numbers 6:24-26 (esv):

in order for us to hear:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Jesus, on the cross, had to hear:
The Lord curse You and withdraw His hand from You, Jesus;
the Lord turn away His face from You and condemn You, Jesus;
the Lord withdraw His countenance from You and deliver You, Jesus, into torment....
oh the price He paid for my acceptance~!!!!


Clover

Monday, May 10, 2010

flinging heavenward

today's quotemeal captured my imagination:
Only he who flings himself upward when the pull comes to drag him down, can hope to break the force of temptation. Temptation may be an invitation to hell, but much more is it an opportunity to reach heaven. At the moment of temptation, sin and righteousness are both very near the Christian; but, of the two, the latter is the nearer.
-- Charles H. Brent
i like the image of flinging ones-self heavenward......


Clover

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

it's all about brokenness

this is just such an amazing, compassionate response, and actually applies to any form of brokenness in our lives, i had to share it!


Clover

Outcast, Adopted.

THIS BLOG IS IN NEED OF AN OVERHAUL. there are posts from years back i would not be able to post in good conscience now. i plan to overhaul the blog, and either delete or add a disclaimer to those posts. but that is gonna take time....

The Radical Summons: "
Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." Hebrews 13:13.

"The Spirit never loosens where the Word binds; the Spirit never justifies where the Word condemns; the Spirit never approves where the Word disapproves; the Spirit never blesses where the Word curses." —Thomas Brooks

‎"God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead. He does not give saintliness to any but sinners, nor wisdom to any but fools. In short: He has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace. Therefore no arrogant saint, or just or wise man can be material for God, neither can he do the work of God, but he remains confined within his own work and makes of himself a fictitious, ostensible, false, and deceitful saint, that is, a hypocrite." --Martin Luther (W.A. 1.183ff)

i will not let You go: "Jacob's sense of his total debility and utter defeat is now the secret of his power with his friendly Vanquisher. God can overthrow all the prowess of the self-reliant, but He cannot resist the earnest entreaty of the helpless." --Albert Barnes

i will not let You go: "Jacob's determination did not flow from his strength, it flowed from his weakness." --Charles Leiter