February Quotes

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

~Unknown

Sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

~General Douglas MacArthur

A foolish woman is complacent, which in this context, means she is contented with a mediocre Christian life. She fails to grasp the truth that there is no middle road, no fence-sitting, when it comes to discipleship, we are at all times either going forward or going backward. That's why living in limbo is really only an illusion.

~Lydia Brownback ("A Woman's Wisdom")

Relationships either get better or get worse; 

they never stand still. 

~Dr. Gary Chapman

[Jesus] was lionhearted and lamblike, strong and meek, tough and tender, aggressive and responsive, bold and brokenhearted. He sets the pattern for manhood. 

~John Piper

For where the glory of God is not made the end of the government, it is not a legitimate sovereignty, but a userpation.

~ John Calvin

Loneliness is a required course for leadership. 

~Elizabeth Elliot

Your emptiness is but preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up. 

~C.H. Spurgeon

’But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it,’ 1 Cor.10:13. Yes, God is faithful even if we are faithless: He is true to His covenant engagements, and though He visits our iniquities with stripes, yet His loving kindness will He never utterly take from one of His own, Ps.89:32,33. It is in the hour of trial, just with the clouds are blackest and a spirit of dejection has seized us, that God’s faithfulness appears most conspicuously. That is to say, He will either lighten the burden or give increased strength to bear it, so that we shall not be utterly overwhelmed by it.

~A.W. Pink ("Elijah")

If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part. Beware of halfhearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters – to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Half-hearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable.

~Horatius Bonar

Instead of the word submission, I should write acceptance, for more and more, as life goes on, that word opens doors into rooms of infinite peace, and the heart that accepts asks nothing, for it is at rest, and the pilgrim of love does not need a map or chart. ‘I know my road, it leadeth to His heart.’

~Amy Carmichael

Feelings are not scientific instruments for that which surrounds them. They speak only of themselves when they say, “I am cold; I am dark.” They do not necessarily speak of truths. Perhaps the final victory of our Lord came when he followed the cry of 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' with the words, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' Shall we then bemoan any darkness? Shall we not rather gird up our strength to encounter it that we, too, from our side may break through the passage for the light beyond? He who fights with the dark shall know the gentleness that makes man great—the dawning countenance of the God of hope.

~George McDonald ("The Laird's Inheritance")

I am...the Life

My devotions this week covered a lot of ground. Reading from Psalm 109 to Isaiah 13, but one of the familiar themes of Proverbs caught my attention again. It tied in well with one of the daily devotionals I read on Wednesday, as well.

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied. (Proverbs 19:23)

The fear of the Lord gives wisdom. The fear of the Lord gives knowledge. The fear of the Lord gives understanding. But here it says the fear of the Lord leads to life. God gives us physical life, but He also promises that those who seek Him will find Him, and the only way we will live eternally is to know the Son of God.

Paul opens his second letter to Timothy in this manner: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus." We, who are spiritually dead, are made alive in Christ's life by His work on the cross. We're given a new life, a renewed mind, and a new mission as a Christian. We won't find eternal life in anyone or anything else, for Christ is the source and giver of Life. He is Life Himself. Jesus came that we "may have life and have it abundantly". (John 17:3)

We live in the flesh, but it's only temporary, and it's purpose serves to sanctify us and bring glory to God. The contrast of Christ's life in us is magnified all the more when we see the depraved nature of ourselves. "Always carrying in teh body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:10)

The fear of the Lord, a reverence and respect for His name, leads us to life, and it's by this life that we live eternally. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." When we become a child of God, we are forever secure in His presence and protection, and nothing can separate us from His love. We are no more secure anywhere here on earth than the angels are in heaven. And when we are finished this physical life on earth, we will have life eternal in heaven.

This life in Christ, in return, should also increase our fear of the Lord, for we should be growing day by day in the Word and in communion with Him. Resting in the Lord for assurance of salvation, sanctification, and security is what will satisfy our hearts. By fear of the Lord we live with the promise of eternal life, and with the physical life He grants us now, we must learn to walk in the fear of the Lord all the days of our life. It is the Living God who grants us life, physically and spiritually. Our time here on earth is for a purpose, and we are immortal until we fulfill it.

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (Psalm 42:1-2a)

"Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

His Holiness!

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. 
~Psalm 97:12


I was reminded of the holiness of God after reading this verse. I have heard it said that God's holiness is His most important attribute, because this is what sets Him apart from other gods. The KJV says it this way: "give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness". This is the attribute that the angels speak of around the throne of God. "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come". (Revelation 4:8). 1 Peter calls us to be holy as the Lord Himself is holy. Holiness means consecration to the service of God. That means that all our thoughts, our actions, and our being is set-apart for the work of God. We are His ambassadors here, and our life must demonstrate that we were called out of the world's darkness and into His light.

God's holiness is not only something we're to emulate, but His holiness also shows us what we are not. God's purity stands in stark contrast to the lives of mankind, and the more we know of God's holiness, the more we will see the sin in ourselves and others. The holiness of God in the Old Testament caused men to fall on their faces in worship to Him. Moses and Joshua were told to remove their shoes as they were standing in the presence of a holy God. Isaiah recognized his sinfulness as he saw the Lord on His throne. God's presence filled the Temple with His holiness and those who entered without permission into the Holy of Holies would die.

God's holiness is something we're to give thanks for. Without the holiness of God no one can see the Lord, and to be judged for all eternity would mean certain death for us. But it was the holiness of God and His Son that enabled Him to die in our place. Because of His perfection, He could stand before God--a God before whom no man could stand--and call us holy, righteous, and pure, because of our faith in Christ. Because of His holiness a Perfect Sacrifice was offered once and for all, providing the means to cleanse our sin forever. Because of Jesus' holiness, we live under grace, and are freed from the bondage of sin. And because of His holiness we continue to be sanctified and conformed to the likeness of Christ. We have good reason to be thankful.

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 
(2 Corinthians 9:15)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:10)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
(Psalm 103:1)

"You shall have no other gods before Me"

This past week I read through the book of 2 Chronicles. It starts out with Solomon's building of the temple--a Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where the priests and people would worship God and offer the necessary sacrifices for their sin. But after Solomon's death, his kingdom is divided, and then comes the long list of kings and rulers who attempt to control the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

Many of the kings were wicked in God's sight, and didn't do much, if anything, to bring the nation back to God. Some were righteous, though. But the one thing that particularly stood out to me was the use of the high places of false worship, which were often built by the kings who turned their hearts from the one true God. The wicked kings blatantly built and used these areas of false worship. Yet sometimes when a righteous king reigned, the places were destroyed and the people turned back to God. However, there were a few kings who followed the Lord, but not fully, and many times this was because they did not destroy the places of false worship.

Jotham was one of these. "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices." (2 Chronicles 27:2) Manassah was another, for while the people served the God, they used the high places of false worship to sacrifice to the Lord. Both these men allowed the influence of pagan people and nations to corrupt their worship towards God, and because they permitted some sin in their lives, the Israelites did not follow God wholeheartedly. Their intended to follow God (though Manassah didn't until later in his reign), but this sin distracted them and their people from restoring complete fellowship with God.

It's was also interesting to see that after many wicked or weak rulers, there came a godly king who completely destroyed all the false places of sacrifices and worship, called the people to repentance, and celebrated the Passover. After Jotham, Ahaz led the people into further wickedness, building more high places and leading the people in false worship. But after Ahaz, came Hezekiah. Amon reigned after Manassah, and he, too, served false gods, and refused to humble himself before God. But after Amon, came Josiah.

Hezekiah and Josiah were the two kings who sought after God. They weren't perfect, but they turned Judah's heart to repent and seek God. They purged the land of false images and places of worship. They both restored and ordered the holy Temple, and they both celebrated the Passover once again. They refused to allow the pagan influence to corrupt the land, and by doing so they preserved the nation--the line from which Christ would come--for yet a little longer.

Perhaps this can be a lesson to us, too. When we allow sinful influences, thoughts, and action to creep into our lives, it slowly draws us away from God. Sometimes it isn't noticeable at first, but it takes conscious action to destroy the false strongholds of our hearts and to restore our relationship with God. If we're going to allow just that "one little thing" to plant seeds in our mind that turn us from God, then it's going to weaken our appetite for spiritual things. We need to guard the purity of our hearts and minds if we desire to follow after Christ. Single-hearted devotion to Christ and unity with fellow believers requires that we lay aside sin and live in obedience--for that brings blessing.

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statues, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 34:31-33