April Quotes

In the stillness of things, when one looks at the stars shining bright in the dark sky, God speaks to us in that silence.

 -Unknown

God has given us the DNA of righteousness. We are saints. Nothing we do will make us more righteous than we already are. Nothing we do will alter this reality. God knows our DNA. He knows that we are "Christ in me."

-John S. Lynch

The saving work of Christ includes deliverance from the death penalty for sin in one’s past life, the power of sin in his present life, and the very presence of sin in the future life.

-Henry Morris

God does not comfort us by showing us the future, but by showing us Himself. 

-Tim Challies

Sometimes when we least expect it, a small cross proves a lovely crown, a seemingly unimportant event becomes a lifelong experience, or a stranger becomes a friend. 

-Louisa May Alcott

“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn’t mean we should give only when we’re feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don’t wait until you feel like giving—it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow.

-Randy Alcorn

[T]he ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation shall continue to live.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

-C.S. Lewis

Bible commentator R. C. H. Lenski once noted that people with eager but uncertain vows of allegiance to Christianity are like those who view “the soldiers on parade, the fine uniforms, and the glittering arms and [are] eager to join, forgetting the exhausting marches, the bloody battles, the graves, perhaps unmarked.” 

-John MacArthur

Expecting perfection from ourselves or others is not what holiness is about.

-Kevin DeYoung

God of War

 This week I began reading through Psalms again. The number of verses speaking of war caught my attention. While war is never something to desire, there are times when justice must be carried out, and in the Old Testament times the Lord did call His people to battle. To fight for their land, their homes, and their faith. And it was He who gave them the power, strength, and victory when the occasion arose.

He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze...For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. (Psalm 18:34, 39-40, ESV)

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation--the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who delivered me from my enemies... (Psalm 18:46-48a)

Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! (Psalm 24:8)

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! Take hold of shield and bucker and rise for my help! Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, "I am your salvation!" (Psalm 35:1-3)

...for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them....Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. (Psalm 44:3-7)

There is no delight in war, but there is great joy in knowing that God gives victory. Wars and battles today are but a shadow of the spiritual battles that take place daily in the hearts and minds of believers. And when justice is pursued and meted out among the nations, we see a glimpse of the righteousness that will reign when King Jesus returns.

In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds! Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, the peoples fall under you. 

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprighteness.

Psalm 45:4-6

November Quotes

You must not only affirm the truth; you must also proclaim it. You must also defend it. 

-Albert Mohler

If you focus on men, you will always be disappointed. Focus on the principles for which they stood.

-Col. John Eidsmoe

It was in a garden that Adam sinned, and it was in a garden that the Second Adam (Jesus) was arrested. After being killed for the sins of His own, he was buried then rose from the grave in a garden on the third day, breaking Adam's curse. Mary thought at first that the risen Savior was a gardener. Christ is now in Heaven preparing a place for His own, a garden with the Tree of Life at the center, the garden that Eden was pointing to all along!

-Unknown

[A]ll great and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both met and overcome with answerable courage.

-William Bradford

Shall we not pray for strength to run well knowing that greater trials are likely ahead, but also knowing that the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is greater than all our trials and knowing that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. 

 -Nathan Francis

Let lovingkindness become the standard of true wisdom; justice, the measure of real power; and righteousness, our criterion of riches. 

-John Piper

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid youstand, Men of the West!' 

-JRR Tolkien (Aragorn)

It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates.

-Amy Carmichael

The Christian life isn't difficult — it is impossible. If we don't know that, we will try to do things ourselves. Faith is not necessary when we think we can do it ourselves. Faith comes along when we realize that we cannot do it on our own." 

-Joseph Garlingen

Struggling with sin isn't a sign of God's absence, but of his presence. 

-Darrin Patrick

The universe shudders in horror that we have this infinitely valuable, infinitely deep, infinitely rich, infinitely wise, infinitely loving God, and instead of pursuing him with steadfast passion and enthralled fury—instead of loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; instead of attributing to him glory and honor and praise and power and wisdom and strength — we just try to take his toys and run. It is still idolatry to want God for his benefits but not for himself. 

-Matt Chandler

When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Cost of Discipleship"

These many years of waiting will only be a sentence in the story. This long day will come to an end, and I believe it will end in glory, when we will shine like suns and stride the green hills with those we love and the One who loves.

-Andrew Peterson

Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object. 

-Voddie Baucham

It is not your love that sustains the marriage,

but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

What ends up happening to so many of us is that we spend so much time trying to put sin to death that we don’t spend enough time striving to know God deeply, trying to gaze upon the wonder of Jesus Christ and have that transform our affections to the point where our love and hope are steadfastly on Christ. The goal is this: that Christ would become more beautiful and desirable than the allure of sin. 

-Matt Chandler

October Quotes

We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the One who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy. 

-John Piper

It is not the strength of your faith that saves you, but the strength of Him upon whom you rely! Christ is able to save you if you come to Him—be your faith weak or be it strong. 

-Charles Spurgeon

Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years no, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grace, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. 

-John Paton

Let us not wait for large opportunities or different kinds of work, but do the things that we find to do day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived. We will never have any time but the present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God. Endeavor now to bring forth fruit. Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find to do--"do it with thy might." Do it promptly. Do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do tomorrow, as if that could make up for the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow. If we honor Christ and are blessed, it is by the things that we do today. Whatever you do for Christ throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little slurred labor, done as a matter of course now and then; but when you do serve Him, do it with heart, and soul, and strength.

-C.H. Spurgeon

None but God can satisfy the longings of the immortal soul; as the heart was made for him, he only can fill it. 

-Richard Chenevix

If God has lost the authority to be sovereign over reality, if He has lost the authority to provide objective law, and if He has lost the authority to reveal absolute truth, then in the eyes of men, He has lost the right to be God.

-Kevin Swanson

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.

-C. S. Lewis

The promises of God and the fulfillment of them are linked together by an indissoluble bond.

-John Calvin

When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be to see many there whom I did not expect to see; the second wonder will be to miss many people who I did expect to see; and the third and greatest of all will be to find myself there. 

-John Newton

Enemy-occupied territory---that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.

-C.S. Lewis

When the tears have dried and the heart ache has given way We will find ourselves not far from a God who has held us in our storm, who has knelt in our grief and stayed with us. When all is said and done, we will find ourselves in a better land, holding the hand of a better man. 

-T.B. LaBerge

To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour.

-Winston Churchill

The strength of man is the absoluteness of his God. 

-R. J. Rushdoony

Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.

-Amy Carmichael

August Quotes

Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.

-Benjamin Franklin 

Arrogance doesn’t come from having convictions; it comes from having the wrong convictions about how to treat people who don’t share them with you. Humility doesn’t come from not having convictions; it comes from having the right convictions about the importance of gentleness and respect.

-Unknown

There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.

-A. Rich

We live in a culture that exalts human autonomy above God's sovereignty and sets the individual’s freedom of expression above God's law.

-Paul Washer

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

-Winston Churchill

Ministry is… 

Giving when you feel like keeping; 

Praying for others when you need to be prayed for; 

Feeding other souls when your own soul is hungry; 

Living truth before people even when you can’t see results; 

Hurting with other people even when your own hurt can’t be spoken; 

Keeping your word even when it’s not convenient; Being faithful when your flesh wants to run away.

-Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Trust is earned, respect is given, loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.

-Unknown

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

-Elizabeth Stone

Rest in this—it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you.

-Jim Elliot

It is sweet to know that our tears are understood, even when words fail. Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers, and of weeping as a constant dropping of importunate intercession which will surely wear its way right into the very heart of God's mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way. My God, I will "weep" when I cannot plead, for You hear the voice of my weeping! 

-Charles Spurgeon

In the pursuit of joy through suffering, we magnify the all-satisfying worth of the Source of our joy. God himself shines as the brightness at the end of our tunnel of pain. 

-John Piper

Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one. 

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We should learn to look at the blemishes and faults of others--only through the eyes of love, with sympathy, patience, and compassion. We do not know the secret history of the lives of others around us. We do not know what piercing sorrows have produced the scars we see in people's lives. We do not know the pains and trials which make life hard, to many with whom we are tempted to be impatient. If we knew all the secret burdens and the heart-wounds which many keep hidden beneath their smiling faces--we would be patient and gentle with all people.

 -J. R. Miller

Faith is neither a trust nor a belief in the unknown, but the firm knowledge that God is God, that He is true to His word, and, that what He has promised He will bring to pass.

R.J. Rushdoony

I have learned that breezes are always the precursors to wind. And winds usually push in storms. And we all know Who can calm storms. 

-D. Harrison

Psalm 88

No words today, except those from Scripture. Here's a Psalm to read; it's not one most people post anywhere, but it's Scripture regardless. It'll make you think about life and about God. Blessings to you all!

Psalm 88

O Lord, the God of my salvation,

I have cried out by day and in the night before You.

Let my prayer come before You;

Incline Your ear to my cry!

For my soul has had enough troubles,

And my life has drawn near to Sheol.

I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;

I have become like a man without strength,

Forsaken among the dead,

Like the slain who lie in the grave,

Whom You remember no more,

And they are cut off from Your hand.

You have put me in the lowest pit,

In dark places, in the depths.

Your wrath has rested upon me,

And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.

You have removed my acquaintances far from me;

You have made me an object of loathing to them;

I am shut up and cannot go out.

My eye has wasted away because of affliction;

I have called upon You every day, O Lord;

I have spread out my hands to You.

Will You perform wonders for the dead?

Will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.

Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,

Your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness?

And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help,

And in the morning my prayer comes before You.

O Lord, why do You reject my soul?

Why do You hide Your face from me?

I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on;

I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.

Your burning anger has passed over me;

Your terrors have destroyed me.

They have surrounded me like water all day long;

They have encompassed me altogether.

You have removed lover and friend far from me;

My acquaintances are in darkness.

July Quotes

Jesus is coming back for HIS church, not yours.

-Unknown

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

We are who we are, not because we are who we are, but we are who we are because we live in Christ.

-Unknown

God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.

-John Piper

God's training is for NOW, not presently. 

His purpose is for THIS MINUTE, not for something in the future. 

We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; 

we get it wrong when we think of the afterwards. 

What men call training and preparation, God calls the end... 

If we realize that obedience is the end, 

then EACH MOMENT IS PRECIOUS. 

-Oswald Chambers

If you remove the snow from the hillside in the late winter, you will find sweet flowers growing there, beneath the cold drifts, unhurt by the storm and by the snowy blankets that have covered them. Just so, should we keep our hearts tender and sensitive beneath life's fiercest winter blasts, and through the longest years of suffering, and even of injustice and wrong treatment. That is true, victorious living.

-J.R. Miller

Those who worry about the loss of time entailed by such small, external acts of helpfulness are usually taking their own work too seriously. We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our path with their demands and requests. 

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Cheerfully and gratefully I lay myself and all I am or own at the feet of Him who redeemed me with His precious blood, engaging to follow Him, bearing the cross He lays upon me. This is the least I can do, and I do it while my heart lies broken and bleeding at His feet. 

-Elizabeth Prentiss

Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it swarms with many faults.

-John Calvin

Becoming a mentor has got to be something that comes up within you—it’s got to be God’s work. It can’t be our work because we’ll give answers that aren’t God’s answers.

-Patty Webb

In my many years of pastoring, counseling, and traveling, I’ve found an all-too-common and dangerous theme among Christians: no one lays down the law better than the one who thinks they’re keeping it themselves.

-Paul Tripp

Ah, I have kept Him waiting when I ought not, but He has waited even then. Always waiting – so patient with my foolishness, my weakness, my fear. Our fellowship is with God, and fellowship is friendship, and friendship means that partnership which, on His part, is the accommodating of His strength to my weakness. 

-G. Campbell Morgan

If He loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Even when prospects are few and hopes are squashed and joy is waning, I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is "my refuge" to which I continually return. I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet dwelling place.

-Charles Spurgeon

Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it swarms with many faults.

-John Calvin

Friendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins.

-Charles Alexander Eastman

A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's.

-Leo C. Rosten

Keep Yourselves from Idols

I've been reading through Deuteronomy again for the past couple days, and the passage on idolatry in chapter four stood out to me this time, and as most of us know, idolatry was an issue that the Israelites struggled with frequently. In fact, it makes up much of their history as they fell, time and time again, into worshipping other gods from other nations.

While I didn't do an extensive study of this passage, I read it in its context and mentally connected the passage to other places in Scriptural history. The reason God gave here for forbidding idolatry was interesting: You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol..." (Deut.4:15-16a, NIV). Since the Israelites had not been permitted to see a physical image of God, they were warned against creating an representative object of which to worship. Even Moses, the meekest man, had not been permitted to see God's face, and the Lord Himself had to protect Moses from seeing His glory. They did not know what the image of God looked like, save that they were created in His image, and therefore, they must not attempt to create a replica of something which they had never seen.

Not only were they not to create an idol, but they were not to make and image of any shape: not a man or woman, not an animal on earth or a bird, not like any creature that moves on the ground or a fish in the water, not a heavenly body or anything whatsoever.

The Fire that spoke from the burning bush had rescued His people from the furnace of Egypt. The One who had not revealed His face had placed His image on the faces and hearts of men. The One who commanded them to cross the Jordan would one day send His Son to "cross the Jordan" (figuratively) to redeem Israel. The Covenant-Maker commanded His covenant-breakers not to attach themselves with any other gods. The God who gathered Israel as a nation would scatter them for their rebellion. The gods who turned the peoples' hearts away would eventually be the motivator to turn their hearts back to Yahweh.

God was God then, and God is God now. The God who rescued, scattered, and redeemed His people also does the same with us today when we leave the worship of His throne and join with others to worship our own heart's desires. This passage was a reminder of that. We tend to idolize things such as people, money, or places...even things like self-pity, grief, or happiness can become places of idolatry because our hearts are bent on placing something or someone on the throne rather than Christ.

But the God who allowed circumstances to cause suffering for Israel, also waited for their repentance and never left them or forgot His covenant with them. And ultimately, He sent a Redeemer for their (and our) sake, to rescue them permanently and bring them into His eternal home. There we will see His glory face-to-face and there will be no struggle to allow Him to rule in our hearts.

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 
(1 John 5:21, NIV)

Gospel of John, Part 4

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Should the resurrection of Jesus be considered one of the "signs" of the Gospel? Why or why not? (This is not asking you if the resurrection is important to Christianity.)

John’s Gospel records seven of Jesus signs before His resurrection and one sign after His resurrection. These signs were displayed by Christ to manifest His glory, turn unbelief to belief,[1]  test faith,[2] and proclaim His deity.[3] John’s eight signs, however, were not the only ones Jesus performed. Surpassing even these miraculous signs was Christ’s resurrection: a miracle demonstrating His power over His own physical body and over the sting of death.[4] The resurrection should be considered one of the signs of the Gospels because it also accomplished the same results as the other signs.

In the resurrection, Christ manifested His glory by demonstrating that He had power over death.[5] Satan thought He had conquered Christ by slaying His human body, but just as God had promised hundreds of years before, Christ would crush the Serpent’s head by His resurrection.[6] After His resurrection, Christ’s glory was displayed even more fully in His ascension to the right hand of the Father.[7]

The resurrection was one of Christ’s signs to turn unbelief to belief. Though Jesus had often spoken of His death and resurrection to His disciples, they didn’t not understand it nor grasp the full meaning until His ascension. The resurrection was meant to bring about ultimate saving faith in those who would believe.[8] The disciples did eventually believe. The women who followed Jesus believed. The centurion at the cross believed. The thief crucified with Christ believed. Countless others also followed the Savior and many gave their lives because of this one sign. The other eight signs recorded by John were meant to bring about faith in a Person. The resurrection was a sign of that Person meant to confirm faith.

The resurrection tested the faith of Christ’s followers. Mary, blinded by her emotions, had her faith tested when the “gardener” spoke to her. Peter’s faith was tested through his denial. The disciples were tested in the Garden of Gethsemane and during the three days and nights after the crucifixion. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were tested by Jesus Himself when He scolded them for not remembering the words of the Old Testament Prophets. Thomas faith was tested when he saw the Lord’s pierced hands and side. The resurrection was the one great sign that tested faith to the utmost, determining whether a person’s faith would stand or fall. Many had believed in Jesus previous signs and wonders, but the sign of the resurrection laid the foundation for saving faith. Without saving faith, there is no salvation, forgiveness from sins, or eternity with Christ.[9]

The resurrection, like Jesus previous signs, also proclaimed Jesus’ deity. Only the Giver of Life could break the chains of death and work a physical and spiritual miracle in raising Himself from the grave. No other had done this, and no others would. In raising Himself from the dead, Christ demonstrated His equality with the Father, for God is the Author of Life.[10]

The resurrection was Christ’s greatest sign to believers and unbelievers alike, that Jesus is the Christ.[11] Those who believe today don’t have the blessing of seeing Christ’s physical miracles. Though John and the other Gospel authors recorded the miracles of Christ, our faith today rests completely on what Christ has already done and in our faith in the miracles that others witnessed. Thomas had the advantage of seeing in order that he might believe, but we are blessed because we haven’t seen, yet we believe.[12] The resurrection was also written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that in believing we might have life through His name.[13] The resurrection stands in the past, present, and future as the greatest sign of the Bible.[14]

---

[1] Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John, 208.

[2] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 157.

[3] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11, 83.

[4] 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.

[5] 1 Corinthians 15:26-27.

[6] Genesis 3:15.

[7] Philippians 2:9-11.

[8] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 158.

[9] Leon Morris, Jesus is the Christ, 186.

[10] John 2:18-22.

[11] John MacArthur,  The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21, 386

[12] John 20:24-29.

[13] John 20:31.

[14] 1 Corinthians 15:1-20.

Engedi

The post this week isn't taken from my devotional reading, but rather from my studying for Sunday school lessons plans. Last week I taught through 1 Samuel 23. I've been going through 1 Samuel for a long time now, but for six chapters Saul has been relentless in his pursuit of David. It first began with Saul's rejection as king, and then Saul's jealousy of David because he had won the peoples' hearts, and the story just gets more tangled from there on.

In chapter 23, David rescues the city of Keilah from the Philistines. This city was was identified by Saul as one that had gates and bars surrounding it. Which means that for David living there, this could either end up as a trap or as protection. And soon Saul finds out where David is hiding again. Using the ephod that Abiathar (a priest) brought when he fled from Doeg's slaughter of 85 priests, David inquires of the Lord asking if the men of Keilah would surrender him to Saul or not. The Lord said they would give him up to Saul. So David must flee. Again.

David has with him about 600 men at this point; men that he trained into a small army. Some were likely his brothers and other relatives (1 Samuel 22:1-2), but most were men who were in distress, who were in debt, and who were bitter in soul. This unhappy crowd of people gathered to David in the caves of Adullam and he accepted them as his own and provided them with the leadership they so desperately needed.

After David flees from Keilah to the wilderness of Ziph. David's often in the wildernesses of Israel. Always running, always fighting. Just going wherever they could go in order to escape Saul. But he's betrayed by the Ziphites, so then he moves on to the wilderness of Maon. Here Saul likely divides his men into two companies, and soon David is surrounded by the side of a mountain. Just as Saul was closing in on David to capture him, a messenger comes to Saul saying that the Philistines had made a raid against the land. Once again the Lord provides opportunity for David to flee. Just at the right time. Saul leaves to protect his land and there the place was called the Rock of Escape. The place where God intervened against evil, brought deliverance, and rescued his anointed.

David again leaves the area, but in the bleakest of wildernesses he find the strongholds of Engedi. Here David found an oasis in the middle of the desert. Song of Solomon notes that it also had vineyards providing nourishment for him and his men. There are fountains of water that pour out from the limestone cliffs and caves where they could find protection and shelter. So David was given rest and refreshment for a time. He was betrayed by men and pursued by Saul again, but for now, God gave him quietness in the desert.

David wasn't perfect. He was a sinful man, but He was God's anointed and a man after the Lord's heart. He lived much of his early life simply running from Saul and fighting enemies, but resulting from the betrayal, the hurt, the enemies, the pain, and the thanksgiving we have the book of Psalms today. God provided physical temporary rest and refreshment for David, but David's ultimate rest was found in the God of Israel--the King who never sleeps and is constantly guarding His children. His grace was given to David regardless of how many times he sinned or how many times he felt like giving up. And I think perhaps David was reminded of that grace in Engedi. The temporary still moments and the release from pursuit and the miraculous deliverance from Saul.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

-Psalm 57 

(a psalm perhaps written around the time when David was in Engedi)

[Engedi is later referred to in Ezekiel 47 where in the end of time the water of life (fresh water from the salty Dead Sea!) will flow through the Temple and Engedi will be filled with fish and fishermen will spread their nets there. A picture of restoration and healing and refreshment in the new heavens and earth.]

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me

to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, 

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Hide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

O God of my salvation!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will take me in.

Teach me your way, O Lord,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

January Quotes

We need to stay sound in doctrine, to stay safe in our morals. 

-Unknown

No matter happens, or what someone does to you, God's plan for your life can never be ruined...because God is in control.

-Unknown

When you’re in the furnace, you’re beyond the reach of those who are trying to harm you. You’re tried by fire, but you come out as pure gold.

-Dr. Bob Jones Senior

There is nothing like Christianity to make all men equal, to level such distinctions—but it levels by lifting to a lofty tableland, accessible only to humility. Only he who is humble can rise. 

-George MacDonald

There are some things you can only say to the Lord because he's the only one that can bear that much reality. 

-Jerram Barrs

God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.

-Martin Luther

We are sinfully lost people and we have a scandalously merciful Savior.

-Unknown

Silence is pure and holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking.

-Nicholas Sparks

Good leaders must first become good servants. 

-Robert Greenleaf

Accountability is more than going to a brother or sister in the Lord and confessing failure. Accountability is going to them in the middle of a battle, before we’ve fallen, and asking for their help. 

-Paul Speed

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.

-William Penn

As our knowledge of [God] and his infinite, transcendent value increases, we find that our esteem of ourselves as one of his beloved ones will grow as well.

-Johnson

We develop patience as we trust that God denies us what we think is good only because He has something better for us--both now and in the future.

-Joshua Harris

The evidence … the raw-bone, Biblical evidence that there was one time in your life that you repented unto salvation, is that you continue repenting until today, and continue growing in repentance.

-Paul Washer

You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He’s doing.

-Oswald Chambers

The Dark Before the Dawn

“The Dark Before the Dawn”

In dark Gethsemane that agonizing night
Darkness prevailed, suppressing the light
His closest companions, to safety they fled
As in their stead, the Savior was led

To the anguish of the cross, as a Lamb
Stumbled the innocent Son of Man
Fear gripped mortal men’s hearts
As Satan threw his fiery darts

The spiritual war remained fierce
As the King—His hands and feet—were pierced
“Father, forgive them” the Sufferer cried
Releasing men from bondage, He died

Man’s deceit, rebellion, and injustice reigned
The Righteous One was crushed, His Life was claimed
Broken hearts, grief, sorrow, and pain
His promises, His words, forgotten once again

In the heavenlies, the battle raged
As men on earth, took and laid
The Healer’s body, broken and bruised
The Master of earth, by sons of men, abused

His followers weary and wounded
The ache of sin and death was not unfounded
Three nights He was cursed for hopeless men
Their hearts, like the torn veil, were ripped. Again.

The sting of death hung over the Almighty’s grave
His enemies rejoiced…yes, the ones He forgave
The Branch of Jesse, now a broken reed
Hope was shattered, the darkness oppressive indeed

The faithful women still wounded and weary
Made their way to the tomb that held Satan’s fury
Their hearts aching, broken, and sore
Still wounded from the pain of the nights before

But at that grave at the break of dawn
They found the stone and the Savior’s body gone
“Remember His words. He is risen indeed!
There is healing and atonement for your deepest need.”

There was hope and there was healing
For the pain and thick darkness they were feeling
The suffering Savior lives to intercede
The Throne of grace is where we, and He, kneel to plead

The broken-hearted will be healed
For the Sun of Righteousness is now revealed
The weary and hurting now rise
And on eagles’ wings the fainthearted fly

Though the spiritual battle still rages
In the Word of God, it’s written on its pages
That victory, justice, and hope will prevail
For the Sovereign One’s glory shall not fail

And through the darkness, the light we see
The banner of truth and love that provides victory
Christ Jesus conquered death and has made us His own
His hope and joy through pain—“I will never leave you alone”

So to the truth of the cross and the grave we must cling
For the High Priest intimately knows our suffering
Sin, pain, and affliction in this transient life is certain
But our Comforter’s open arms meet us behind the temple curtain

So, my fellow soldiers, though the injustice and pain we fight
Victory is ours already—from darkness comes the morning bright
Stand fast in the truth. Hold on to your Lord
The inheritance of the faithful saints is your reward

The battle for justice was not given to the strong
For in our strength, it’s impossible to right the wrong
Yet our weakness is where Sufficient Grace begins
And in the Healer’s strength, the wounded warriors win

-Kaleigh Stroink (age 21)

At the Close of 2015...

This has been my theme verse for the year of 2015, and as the days of this year draw to a close, I find myself still reminded of it.

The believer's life is sure to bring joys and trials, but there is a promise that once we are in Christ, we are secure in him. Nothing can move us from the Father's love, the Son's protection, or the Holy Spirit's guidance. Christ Jesus has made me His own, and nothing can separate me from the love of God. It's not because we've obtained spiritual maturity or because we're perfect. We continue on in working out our own salvation because it's God who works in us and because Christ Jesus has made us His own. A people of his possession, the chosen ones, sent to live Jesus to the world and share His love to other believers.

I've been reading through all four Gospels as part of my reading plan, and I've almost finished John. John 14-17 especially have been some of my most favorite chapters in the Gospels. Jesus talks with His disciples shortly before He will be arrested and He provides them with the comfort and teaching they need in that moment. They don't understand it all until His ascension, but because the words were penned for us also, we, as the 21 century believers, benefit from it today.

We were made the possession of Jesus when He purchased our ransom by paying for our sins on the cross.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:13-15, ESV)

He chose to remove the legal record against us, and not only did he just satisfy the requirement for a perfect blood sacrifice, but He also gloried and triumphed in it. He was pleased to do it. He set aside the majesty to heaven to be born, to die, and to rise again for the people He created. Our past, present, and future is nailed to the cross with Him. That's why we are in Him--He made us His own.

We are now citizens of a new country, a heavenly one, and we await a Savior, who, though is tarrying long in His return, will come again for He has promised. We're not of this world anymore. Scripture commands us to forsake the world and its desires and walk worthy of the Lord. We're saints saved by His grace through faith in Christ Jesus for His glory. Our life is hidden with Christ in God, and when our Life appears, we also will appear with Him in glory.

2015 gave us another year to walk as saints of God's kingdom. Perhaps we did, but in many ways we probably did not. Lord willing, 2016 will give us another year and through its challenges and blessings, we will be offered another season of spiritual growth to use for Christ. Let us not grow weary or fall by the wayside, but let us have courage to do what God has called us to. Not because we've obtained anything in and of ourselves, but because we forget what lies behind and we strain forward into what lies ahead. Let us press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. May our work for the Savior keep us humble but confident, weak but strong, patient but waiting. And wherever He calls us to go may we know that our time spent for God is not in vain, for it is done in the power of Jesus Christ. We are more than just conquerors. We're will reign with Christ as saints. Let us live like it. Let us thank Him for the days ahead in which we will be given opportunity to demonstrate our love for Him and for others.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement as friends and as readers of Facing the Waves. You are appreciated. May God go with you all and may you know His peace, comfort, and love in the days to come.