Food for thought from A. W. Tozer

Sorry if some of these are blurry, don't know why that happened but hopefully if you click on them, it should become clear.

I found these encouraging. Hope you do too.
Most quotes from the book "Dangers of a shallow faith."
The last is a prayer from today's devotional.

Jesus: Rock, Salvation, Defense, Strength, Glory, Refuge

We who are Christians have this sure rock solid foundation : the Lord Jesus Christ.

His kingdom is unshakable so if we are indeed rooted in Him, we will be standing firm in our faith.

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) and there are so many reminders that as long as we're truly following Him, we have no need to fear because He is with us.

Yes the world around us is bound to panic as they have no security in relationship with Jesus. We who belong to Him, who have chosen Him to rule in their lives are convinced that no matter what happens on this earth, we will spend eternity in His presence, giving Him all the glory for His great goodness and faithfulness.

What a blessed privilege to know that the Lord alone is our rock, our salvation, our defense, our glory, the rock of our strength, and our refuge. 

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 

Matthew 7:24-27.

Is your life founded on the Rock? 

Or are you on shaky ground? 

Trust...

We really can trust Him at all times. He knows the end from the beginning, He is intimately aware of every detail about us and He has prepared good works for us to walk in. 

How amazing it is that the Lord God Almighty invites us to pour out our hearts to Him. He knows how wicked and deceitful our hearts have been and He has cleansed us from sin when we confess and forsake them.

I think this may be another of my favourite verses. Whenever my heart is getting full, I need to remember to pour it out to the Lord. He understands the way I feel (and what is more amazing to me, He loves me anyway) 

He is utterly trustworthy. 

He is my refuge. 

Is He your refuge too??

Strength

This is by no means an exhaustive list of Scriptures mentioning Strength, but I found them very encouraging. I hope you do too.

"The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. 

He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15:2

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him." Psalm 28:7

"For You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth." Psalm 31:4-5

"For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" Psalm 43:2

"Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob." Psalm 81:1

"The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Psalm 118:14

"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid;

‘For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” Isaiah 12:2

"Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him." Isaiah 45:24

"O LORD, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction," Jeremiah 16:19

"The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills." Habakkuk 3:19

I wasn’t aware that there were so many different versions of strength in Scripture. I counted at least 5. I found it quite interesting seeing the differences.

Definitions from Strong’s Concordance:

strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise): - boldness, loud, might, power, strength, strong.

properly a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally a rock or boulder; figuratively a refuge; also an edge (as precipitous): - edge, X (mighty) God (one), rock, X sharp, stone, X strength, X strong

a fortified place; figuratively a defence: - force, fort (-ress), rock, strength (-en), (X most) strong (hold).

probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength: - able, activity, (+) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, (+) valiant (-ly), valour, virtuous (-ly), war, worthy (-ily).

 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Ephesians 6:10

I was thinking for awhile about the Lord being our strength, but I was still acting like I had to be strong myself. Now I realise that I missed the point. It is humbling to admit that we have no strength in and of ourselves; we have to rely on the Lord’s strengthening. We can rejoice that God won the victory for us, despite how often we are still so weak. The Lord has all strength and He will equip us with all the fortitude necessary for the things to which He calls us. When we trust Him, He is our refuge and defense. We are secure in Him. A friend of mine gave me these wise words on this subject, but it’s applicable to any truth in Scripture: “It won’t do you any good until you believe and act on it!”

“Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

I’d say that was an excellent reason to rejoice!

A Susan Warner quote

So, I've been thoroughly enjoying reading some good old books. 

I came across this quote and thought it very good and comforting.

So often, we're confused by many things in life, but our Heavenly Father 

is never confused and He has promised to guide us if we will look to Him.

Excerpt from today's Checkbook of Faith

I read this in Spurgeon's Checkbook of Faith today, and it really blessed me. Hope you're blessed by it too.

"Let us rest ourselves upon Him. He is our refuge, let us hide in Him;
He is our strength, let us array ourselves with Him;
He is our help, let us lean upon Him;
He is our very present help, let us repose in Him now.
We need not have a moment's care or an instant's fear.
"The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

C.H. Spurgeon

More Tozer. Prayer and praise and promises

Today I finished one of Tozer's books: "God's Power for your life: How the Holy Spirit transforms you through God's Word." It contains some great challenges and encouragements, including,

"I love Thee, for I can trust Thee to always keep Thy Word. All around me are those who fail to keep their promises for one reason or another. Everyone at some time has disappointed me, but Thou, O Christ, hast never disappointed me. Thou hast been as good as Thy Word, and Thy Word hath been good to me. May I commit myself this day and surrender my heart, mind and life to the promises that have flowed into my heart. In Jesus' name. Amen."

"The man of God says that we "have fled for refuge", and I can just see myself, with the devil one hot jump behind me, racing for the cross of Jesus, racing for Calvary's holy mountain. Just as I come panting in, the doors let down behind me, and the devil runs head-on into the gate and bounces off. He does not get me, because I have found the refuge and I am safe."

"So, says the Spirit, go on; keep on believing. You are not mistaken in fleeing to Christ. Our hope is sure, our consolation is strong, and our forerunner has already entered. The anchor grips the rock. Everything is all right in our Father's house. So, arouse you. Pursue holiness. "Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12). Show diligence and full assurance of hope unto the end."

"Christians ought to be the most delighted, happy people in the world. It is strange that we are not - but I know why we are not. The devil is out after us. The flesh is out after us. The world is out after us. In fighting these three enemies, sometimes we do not have time to be happy. We do not have time to remember that we are as safe in the arms of Jesus as if we had been in heaven a thousand years - if we will only believe, go on, and not disgrace ourselves in the kingdom of God by turning back to the beggarly elements of the world...
We have a promise we can count on, because we have a Promiser who has never and can never fail."

God is a refuge for us.

How great is it that our God knows just what we need as and when we need it.

This verse went round my head today and it made me pause and think.

How amazing that God told us to pour out our hearts before Him!

God tells us He is waiting for us to commune with Him.

He already knows what is in our hearts but He knows it's good for us to be able to come and tell Him.

He is in control and He will shelter us if we will run to Him.

I needed that encouragement today.