Powerful

“O God, I have tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

A.W. Tozer

Continuous Improvement

“If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream….. I believe that much of the American churchgoing population, while not specifically swimming downstream, is slowly floating away from Christ. It isn’t a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless happening because little in their lives propels them toward Christ.”

Francis Chan, Crazy Love

Standing out

I like to blend in, I don’t like to be different or draw attention to myself in public. But that’s something I need to be doing to show Christ’s love to this world. My actions should make people stop and wonder why I’m different from the world. And then the next step is key, it’s sharing with those people WHY I’m different – why there is an unnatural love for others in my soul, why I don’t do what others in the world do, and why my priorities are different.

Each and every day I should be able to answer the question “How did I show Christ’s love to someone in an obvious and impactful way today?”.

getting back into blogging….

“I sometimes struggle with how to properly respond to God’s magnitude in a world bent on ignoring or merely tolerating Him. But know this: God will not be tolerated. He instructs us to worship and fear Him.”

-Francis Chan, Crazy Love

in the valley

Lord, High and Holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox:

That the way down is the way up.

That to be low is to be high.

That the broken heart is the healed heart.

That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit.

That the repenting soul is the victorious soul.

That to have nothing is to possess all.

That to bear the cross is to wear the crown.

That to give is to receive.

That the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime the stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

thy life in my death,

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy riches in my poverty,

thy glory in my valley.

-taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

The Choice is Ours

“The Bible has a simple story. God made man. Man rejected God. God won’t give up until He wins us back.

God will whisper. He will shout. He will touch and tug. He will take away our burdens; He’ll even take away our blessings. If there are a thousand steps between us and Him, He will take all but one. But He will leave the final one to us. The choice is ours.

Please understand. His goal is not to make you happy. His goal is to make you His. His goal is not to get you what you want; it is to get you what you need.”

Max Lucado

a puritan prayer

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

Scrapbook from Summer 2008 in Europe

View Project at Shutterfly

true beauty

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

this verse is so comforting to me. to know that true beauty isn’t based upon this world, takes the pressures of this world away.

Michael Buble – Everything

Such a cute song:

You’re a falling star, You’re the get away car.
You’re the line in the sand when I go too far.
You’re the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you’re the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it’s kinda cute.
When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don’t pretend, that you don’t know it’s true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It’s you, it’s you, You make me sing.
You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything.

You’re a carousel, you’re a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You’re a mystery, you’re from outer space,
You’re every minute of my everyday.

And I can’t believe, that I’m your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, we’ll see it through,
And you know that’s what our love can do.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It’s you, it’s you, You make me sing.
You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything.
You’re every song, and I sing along.
‘Cause you’re my everything.