"Worship is the submission of all our nature to God.
It is the quickening of conscience by His Holiness;
the nourishment of mind with His Truth;
the purifying of imagination by His Beauty;
the opening of the heart to His Love;
the surrender of will to His Purpose -
all of this, gathered up in Adoration,
the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable."
from William Temple's (1881-1944) Readings in St. John's Gospel. Thanks, Pastor Mike, for sharing this with me!!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Hastening the Lord's Return
Jer. 29: 12-14 says, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from captivity." What a promise from the Lord.
The Lord wants us to DESIRE Him, to SEEK after Him with all our heart. In the story of the prodigal son, the Father did not go seeking after the son in a foreign land. He waited until the son DESIRED to come home and be in the Father's presence.
After Jesus had died and risen again, he appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples didn't recognize him, and they were sad and discouraged because of the Lord's death. Jesus expounded the scriptures to them (after rebuking them for their slowness to believe), and their hearts burned within them as He spoke. The interesting thing is, when they got to the village they were heading to, Jesus acted like He was going to keep on going, but the disciples urged him to stay. Jesus wanted them to desire Him and His presence. (Luke 24:13)
2 Tim. 4:8 says, "And now the prize awaits me--the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return." And 2 Pet. 3:11 says we "ought to live Holy and Godly lives, as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." Other versions say, those who"look forward to that day and hurry it along" or "waiting for and hastening to the coming of the Lord". Again, the Lord is waiting on His Bride to cry out to Him, "Come Lord Jesus!" He wants us to want Him, to Seek Him, to Watch Daily at the Gate, looking for His return. Are we waiting on the Lord to return, or is HE waiting on US?! We must be found in faith, our lamps full of oil, pure and Holy, and longing to be with Him.
Our hearts need to burn for God. They burn for everything else - for money, music, success, recognition - just hang around someone long enough, and you will discover what their hearts burn for.
God is waiting for His church to bring back the King!
Lord, fill us with a desire for Your presence, a desire to be with You. May we seek Your face with all our heart, and watch daily at your doors, longing for your return!
These thoughts were taken from various excerpts from Pastor Mike Steven's sermons. Thanks for the inspiration, Pastor Mike!
The Lord wants us to DESIRE Him, to SEEK after Him with all our heart. In the story of the prodigal son, the Father did not go seeking after the son in a foreign land. He waited until the son DESIRED to come home and be in the Father's presence.
After Jesus had died and risen again, he appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples didn't recognize him, and they were sad and discouraged because of the Lord's death. Jesus expounded the scriptures to them (after rebuking them for their slowness to believe), and their hearts burned within them as He spoke. The interesting thing is, when they got to the village they were heading to, Jesus acted like He was going to keep on going, but the disciples urged him to stay. Jesus wanted them to desire Him and His presence. (Luke 24:13)
2 Tim. 4:8 says, "And now the prize awaits me--the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return." And 2 Pet. 3:11 says we "ought to live Holy and Godly lives, as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." Other versions say, those who"look forward to that day and hurry it along" or "waiting for and hastening to the coming of the Lord". Again, the Lord is waiting on His Bride to cry out to Him, "Come Lord Jesus!" He wants us to want Him, to Seek Him, to Watch Daily at the Gate, looking for His return. Are we waiting on the Lord to return, or is HE waiting on US?! We must be found in faith, our lamps full of oil, pure and Holy, and longing to be with Him.
Our hearts need to burn for God. They burn for everything else - for money, music, success, recognition - just hang around someone long enough, and you will discover what their hearts burn for.
God is waiting for His church to bring back the King!
Lord, fill us with a desire for Your presence, a desire to be with You. May we seek Your face with all our heart, and watch daily at your doors, longing for your return!
These thoughts were taken from various excerpts from Pastor Mike Steven's sermons. Thanks for the inspiration, Pastor Mike!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Nourishment for the Soul
"It is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts." A. W. Tozer
May our lives be marked by a growing hunger after God Himself!
May our lives be marked by a growing hunger after God Himself!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Salvation
So difficult is our salvation, that ONLY GOD can make it possible!
Quoted from Leonard Ravenhill
Quoted from Leonard Ravenhill
What it Means to Be a Christian
To accept Christ is to accept Him with a revolutionary acceptance. It's to accept Him completely, all of Him to all of me. To accept Him exclusively and not any other hope but Him. He alone is my hope. It is to accept his friends as my friends, His enemies as my enemies, His ways as my ways, His rejection as my rejection, the cross as my cross, His life as my life, and His glorious future as my glorious future!
THAT is what it means to be a Christian!
Quoted from A. W. Tozer
THAT is what it means to be a Christian!
Quoted from A. W. Tozer
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