Est.

"I asked the Lord that I might grow In faith, and love, and every grace; Might more of His salvation know, And seek, more earnestly, His face. ‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer! But it has been in such a way, As almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favoured hour, At once He’d answer my request; And by His love’s constraining pow’r, Subdue my sins, and give me rest. Instead of this, He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow’rs of hell Assault my soul in every part. Yea more, with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woe; Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low. Lord, why is this, I trembling cried, Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? “‘Tis in this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith. These inward trials I employ, From self, and pride, to set thee free; And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may’st...

   Time to share this one with you. I have fond memories of this song. :)

I heard this the other day! It's absolutely amazing!!!

I'm really glad I found this "Sounds Like Reign" channel. This song in particular keeps blessing me. I love their music and their vlogs. Check it out. :)

My Dad sent me the link for this song and I really love it.

I need to remember these truths: I need to follow Christ and obey the Father. I should be living to glorify Him, no matter what it costs me! His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. I should be willing to be mocked and ridiculed, because, if I'm living like Jesus, I won't fit in with the world. I can and should trust God fully because He is faithful! I need to respond when God speaks to me. Yes, the narrow way is difficult, but it leads to Life.

"...To give unto them... the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..." Isaiah 61:3 Thy feelings will ebb and flow, thy heart will grow warm in summer's glow, and cold in winter's chill, thou wilt be brave and steadfast today, downcast and anxious tomorrow. Thy streams will be full in the rainy season, and in the time of drought they will be bare beds of stone.   Turn away from thyself! Hope in God! He fainteth not neither is weary.  He is the unfailing fountain; His affections do not decay; with Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. When thou are dismayed, He is still full of eternal peace. When thou art downcast, He is still untroubled. It is impossible to keep cares from flocking in great swarms around us, but it is our fault if they are allowed to make nests in our hearts." This really encouraged me. Hope it does the same for you too.

"It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray." George Mueller

O troubled soul, beneath the rod Thy Father speaks — be still, be still; Learn to be silent unto God, And let Him mold thee to His will. Chorus: Be still, O troubled soul, be still; Fear not, thy Father's arms enfold thee. Take up thy cross, lay down thy will; Be silent unto God, and let Him mold thee.    O anxious soul, lay down thy load, Oh, hear His voice, He speaks to thee, "Be still and know that I am God, And cast thy every care on Me." O fearful soul, be still, be still, Be of good cheer; has He not said, "I will be with you, fear no ill, 'Tis I, 'tis I, be not afraid"? O praying soul, be still, be still, He cannot break His plighted word; Sink down into His blessed will, And wait in patience on the Lord. O waiting soul, be still, be strong, And though He tarry, trust and wait; Doubt not, He will not wait too long, Fear not, He will not come too late. I found it very encouraging. How about you?

A fellow who was a constant worrier visited Tindley one day. After listening a while, Tindley replied,  My advice to you is put all your troubles in a sack, take ’em to the Lord, and  leave  ’em there. (He wrote this song in 1916.) "If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, And you have to get along with meager fare, Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird; Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Refrain Leave it there, leave it there, Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If your body suffers pain and your health you can't regain, And your soul is almost sinking in despair, Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal; Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Refrain When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail, Don't forget that God in Heaven answers prayer; He will make...

"He is Jesus, easier to approach than the humblest friend you ever had! He is the sun that shines upon us, He is the star of our night. He is the giver of our life and the rock of our hope. He is our safety and our future. He is our righteousness, our sanctification, our inheritance. You will find that He is all of this in that instant that you move your heart towards Him in faith! This is the journey to Jesus that must be made in the depths of the heart and being." A. W. Tozer

“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished...I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.” “Intimate knowledge of God is possible if we habitually search His Holy Scriptures & translate what we find into obedience.” “The word of God is our only standard, and the Holy Spirit our only teacher.” “If the Holy Spirit guides us, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.” “Our heavenly Father never takes anything from his children unless he means to give them something better.” “Laying up treasures in heaven will draw the heart heavenward.” “The individual who...

I don't know why I haven't posted this song before as I think it's a rather good one. :)

I read this this morning and it blessed, encouraged and challenged me. Am I confessing and forsaking sin? Am I walking blamelessly and wisely and not trusting in my own heart?

"Believing: Directing the Heart's attention to Jesus. And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:36 The Hebrew epistle instructs us to run life's race "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith," for faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God! Believing, actually is directing the heart's attention to Jesus. It is lifting the mind to "behold the Lamb of God," and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each brief excursion away from Him the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window. I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart's intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distraction...

Hmmm... I think maybe the Lord is trying to tell me something... 3 or 4 times in 3 or 4 days, I've been reminded about not going by feelings. I love the Rutherford and Macduff quotes! Here's the Streams in the Desert devotional for 10th March. "The just shall live by faith." (Heb. 10:38). Seemings and feelings are often substituted for faith. Pleasurable emotions and deep satisfying experiences are part of the Christian life, but they are not all of it. Trials, conflicts, battles and testings lie along the way, and are not to be counted as misfortunes, but rather as part of our necessary discipline. In all these varying experiences we are to reckon on Christ as dwelling in the heart, regardless of our feelings if we are walking obediently before Him. Here is where many get into trouble; they try to walk by feeling rather than faith. One of the saints tells us that it seemed as though God had withdrawn Himself from her. His mercy seemed clean gone. For six wee...

I came across this today and thought it was rather good. I'd read the first verse before, but not the other two. “Feelings come and feelings go, And feelings are deceiving; My warrant is the Word of God-- Naught else is worth believing. Though all my heart should feel condemned For want of some sweet token, There is One greater than my heart Whose Word cannot be broken. I'll trust in God's unchanging Word Till soul and body sever, For, though all things shall pass away, HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!” ― Martin Luther

"Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look at them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations. —Frances de Sales “The Lord is my shepherd.” Not was, not may be, nor will be. “The Lord is my shepherd,” is on Sunday, is on Monday, and is through every day of the week; is in January, is in December, and every month of the year; is at home, and is in China; is in peace, and, is in war; in abundance, and in penury. —J. Hudson Tayl...

So, it's a day early, but I loved this poem. " Ye shall not go out with haste (Isaiah 52:12). I do not believe that we have begun to understand the marvellous power there is in stillness. We are in such a hurry--we must be doing--so that we are in danger of not giving God a chance to work. You may depend upon it, God never says to us, "Stand still," or "Sit still," or "Be still," unless He is going to do something. This is our trouble in regard to our Christian life; we want to do something to be Christians when we need to let Him work in us. Do you know how still you have to be when your likeness is being taken? Now God has one eternal purpose concerning us, and that is that we should be like His Son; and in order that this may be so, we must be passive. We hear so much about activity, may be we need to know what it is to be quiet. --Crumbs Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! Nor deem these days--these waiting days--as ill! The ...

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee” (Psalm 5:1, 4) Among Christians of all ages and of varying shades of doctrinal emphasis there has been fairly full agreement on one thing: they all believed that it was important that the Christian with serious spiritual aspirations should learn to meditate long and often on God! Let a Christian insist upon rising above the poor average of current religious experience and he will soon come up against the need to know God Himself as the ultimate goal of all Christian doctrine. Let him seek to explore the sacred wonders of the Triune Godhead and he will discover that sustained and intelligently directed meditation of the Person of God is imperative. To know God well he must think on Him unceasingly. Nothing that man has discovered about himself or God has revealed any shortcut to pure spirituality. It is still free, but tremendously cos...

Streams in the Desert for 23rd January Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? (Psalms 10:1) God is "a very present help in trouble." But He permits trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, that we may be brought to the end of ourselves, and led to discover the treasure of darkness, the unmeasurable gains of tribulation. We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is with us in it. It may be that we shall see Him only when the trial is passing; but we must dare to believe that He never leaves the crucible. Our eyes are holden; and we cannot behold Him whom our soul loveth. It is dark--the bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest; but He is there, deeply touched. Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in His unswerving fidelity; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him. Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as being literally present, though His presence is veiled, there comes an answering voice w...

He putteth forth his own sheep ( John 10:4 ). Oh, this is bitter work for Him and us -- bitter for us to go, but equally bitter for Him to cause us pain; yet it must be done. It would not be conducive to our true welfare to stay always in one happy and comfortable lot. He therefore puts us forth. The fold is deserted, that the sheep may wander over the bracing mountain slope. The labourers must be thrust out into the harvest, else the golden grain would spoil. Take heart! it could not be better to stay when He determines otherwise; and if the loving hand of our Lord puts us forth, it must be well. On, in His name, to green pastures and still waters and mountain heights! He goeth before thee. Whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him. Faith's eye can always discern His majestic presence in front; and when that cannot be seen, it is dangerous to move forward. Bind this comfort to your heart, that the Saviour has tried for Himself all the experiences through which He asks yo...

The other day I was introduced to this challenging and encouraging hymn which was written by Horatio Richmond Palmer in 1868. Mr. Palmer said, ”This song was an inspiration. I was at work on the dry subject of ' Theory' when the complete idea flashed upon me, and I laid aside the theoretical work and hurriedly penned both words and music as fast as I could write them. I submitted them to the criticism of a friend afterward, and some changes were made in the third stanza, but the first two are exactly as they came to me. The music was first written in A flat; but I soon saw that B flat was better, and for many years it has appeared in that key. I am reverently thankful it has been a power for good." A friend contributes this incident: ”Twenty years ago, when the State prison at Sing Sing, New York, had women as well as men within its walls, a lady used to visit the women's department. Every Sunday afternoon the inmates were permitted to come out and sit ...