Est.

I hope this blesses you like it did me! (Old fashioned language as it was written quite a while ago.)  " And if Christ is thus the source of satisfaction to His people , He has communicated to them ten thousand other sources of joy : — all of them connected with His Cross and with His love . None but a Christian can say , " I will go unto God my exceeding joy - the Lord God is my strength and song . " He alone can take up the language of the psalmist , " I will be glad , and rejoice in Thee ; " but he can do so , because God is reconciled to him through Christ , and has become his God. A covenant has been sealed and ratified through the blood of the Cross ; and the attributes of God, once so full of terror , are become his shield , his stronghold , and his triumph ; and he can think of all the glorious perfections of the Almighty, and then say , " I will go unto God , my exceeding joy. " His resistless power , His infinite wisdom, His unchanging fidel...

 In His Hands 'Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt Our feelings come and go; Our best estate is tossed about In ceaseless ebb and flow.   No mood of feeling, form of thought Is constant for a day; But thou, 0 Lord, thou changest not: The same thou art alway. I grasp thy strength, make it mine own, My heart with peace is blest; I lose my hold, and then comes down Darkness, and cold unrest. Let me no more my comfort draw From my frail hold of Thee, In this alone rejoice with awe—- Thy mighty grasp of me. Out of that weak, unquiet drift That comes but to depart, To that pure heaven my spirit lift Where thou unchanging art. Lay hold of me with Thy strong grasp, Let Thy almighty arm In its embrace my weakness clasp, And I shall fear no harm. Thy purpose of eternal good Let me but surely know; On this I'll lean—let changing mood And feeling come or go— Glad when Thy sunshine fills my soul, Not lorn when clouds o'ercast, Since Thou within thy sure control Of love dost hold me ...

 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗥𝗘! My ruling desire is to be wholly given up to the Lord and to His work, and to show forth His praises from day to day. But when I aim at this most--I am baffled, opposed, and always hindered! I see what is wrong, but cannot avoid it. I see what is right, but cannot attain unto it. I know what I wish, but I cannot enjoy it. I read what God commands, but I cannot perform it. In the midst of all, I bless God . . .    for Jesus Christ,    for free grace,    for a full salvation,    for abiding comfort,    for a good hope,    for sweet views of Jesus,    for a glorious inheritance,    for an assurance of victory, and    for the promise of eternal triumph! Nothing can . . .   separate me from Jesus,   turn the current of His love from me, or   change the purposes of His grace for me. His love is astonishing! His ways are marvelous! I change; He remains ...

 A friend lent me a very encouraging booklet. Here's one of the many true accounts I read in it today. I hope you are also encouraged by it.  "Dr. F. B. Meyer was once crossing the Atlantic. The captain asked him to preach in the saloon on Sunday morning. He spoke on “answered prayer” and gave a number of illustrations. An agnostic was present and someone said to him, “What do you think of Meyer’s sermon?” “Oh,” he said, “I don’t believe a word of it.” Dr. Meyer was speaking that afternoon to the passengers in the steerage (second-class) end of the ship. The agnostic picked up two oranges, put them in his pocket and walked over to the meeting. As he threaded his way in and out amongst the steerage folk, he came across an old lady with silvery hair, her eyes closed in sleep, her head back and her hands open on her lap. He took the two oranges out of his pocket and placed them in her hands, and went on to the meeting. When he came back the old lady was eating one of the oranges....

 

I often like to return to lists of verses that repeat a phrase; I find it quite encouraging... I hope you do too.  "Those who love Him" : Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; Deuteronomy 7:9 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments, Daniel 9:4 “Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; but let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was undisturbed for forty years. Judges 5:31 I said, “I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments. Nehemiah 1:5 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those...

Romans 8:28 just keeps popping up for me sooo many times this past few weeks. Even when our circumstances don't appear to us to be at all good and favourable, it's a promise and God always keeps His promises!   I hope you also find it of encouragement!  “In one thousand trials, it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred ninety-nine of them, and one beside.” ~ George Mueller ~

 A retelling in poem form of Matthew 25 "TEN virgins, clothed in white, The Bridegroom went to meet; Their lamps were burning bright To guide His welcome feet. Five of the band were wise  Their lamps with oil filled high; The rest this care despise, And take their vessels dry. Long time the Lord abode - Down came the shades of night - The weary virgins nod, And then they sleep outright. At midnight came the cry Upon their startled ear - Behold the Bridegroom nigh, To light His steps appear. They trim their lamps; in vain The foolish virgins toil - Our lamps are out, O deign To give us of your oil! Not so - the wise ones cry - No oil have we to spare; But swiftly run and buy, That you the joy may share. They went to buy, when lo! The Bridegroom comes in state; Within those ready go, And shut the golden gate. The foolish virgins now Before the gateway crowd; With terror on their brow They knock and cry aloud:- "Lord open to our call - Hast Thou our names forgot?" Sadly the...

A dear Sister friend of mine sent me some words she'd been inspired to write and encouraged me to try setting it to music. With a few small adjustments / additions, here's my attempt.  https://youtu.be/x38OLYGfG70

"and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son." Revelation 21:4-7. 3 people recently challenged me to read the whole book of Revelation in one go. I had never thought to do that before... The verses above have long been a favourite of mine. When things are seeming difficult to handle, I turn and read the last 3 chapters. It gives me much encouragement to press on; the end will be so wonderful!! For my friends who are struggling with awful pain, I pr...

 I trust you will also find this very encouraging.

I'd heard the name often enough but I had only read one or two of his quotes.  Here are a few that I thought are particularly worth sharing.  "For eighteen centuries every engine of destruction that human science, philosophy, wit, reasoning or brutality could bring to bear against a book has been brought to bear against that book to stamp it out of the world, but it has a mightier hold on the world today than ever before. If that were man’s book it would have been annihilated and forgotten hundreds of years ago…  It stands absolutely unshaken today. At times almost all of the wise and great of the earth have been pitted against the Bible, and only an obscure few for it. Yet it has stood." "The great need to-day in individuals, in churches and in preachers is that the Wind of God blow upon us."  "God has not changed; and His ear is just as quick to hear the voice of real prayer, and His hand is just as strong to save, as it ever was."  "There must ...

"When Israel knew not where to go, God made the fiery pillar glow; By night, by day, above the camp It led the way - their guiding lamp; Such is Thy Holy Word to me In day of dark perplexity. When devious paths before me spread, And all invite my foot to tread I hear Thy voice behind me say - "Believing soul, this is the way, Walk thou in it." O gentle Dove, How much Thy holy law I love! My lamp and light In the dark night. When Paul amid the seas seemed lost By Adrian billows wildly tossed, When neither sun nor star appeared, And every wave its white head reared Above the ship, beside his bed An angel stood, and "Fear not" said. Such is Thy holy word to me, When tossed upon afflictions's sea; When floods come in unto my soul, And the deep waters o'er me roll, With angel voice Thy Word draws near And says, "Tis I, why shouldst thou fear? Through trouble great My saints must go Into their rest, where neither woe Nor sin can come; where every tear Fr...

 "Heaven is a wonderful place Filled with Glory and Grace I want to see my Saviour's face Heaven is a wonderful place." (written by Debby Kerner & Ernie Rettino)  I remember hearing this chorus as a child and singing along.  I think it means more to me now than it did then.  I'm also looking forward to seeing again the faces of the dear saints I knew and loved who are already experiencing the joy of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.  As I looked through many references about Heaven, I was encouraged.  He is the One who keeps us and has reserved a place for us.  (I had only heard this partially quoted previously; I'm glad I found the fuller version as I find it encouraging and hope you do too.)  There are many things we don't know, but we do know that Heaven is wonderful. How could it not be when we remember Who created it? His Name is Wonderful so everything He does must also be wonderful! (even though it might not always feel like th...

 Yesterday I had a short but interesting conversation with a lady who I met several years ago. She was asking me if I wouldn't mind not being alive much longer. I replied that that was perfectly alright by me. Earlier today I came across this quote...  "But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me." Psalm 31:14-15. I thank God He has drawn me to Himself and given me the gift of eternal life... However short or long my sojourn on earth may be, I am fully convinced that Heaven will be far more glorious than anything I could ever imagine and I will enter only because of the Lord's amazing grace, mercy and lovingkindness.  "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." 2 Corinthians 5:8-9.

  Good reminder. Thanks Elihu!  Every now and then it can be very helpful to take a few moments to ponder on His wonderful deeds and recount to yourself His faithfulness in your life through however many years you've been walking with Him. Remembering how the Lord has kept me and provided for me and how He is still patiently dealing with me should cause great rejoicing and gratitude. "With my song I will praise Him,  He has been so good to me. He heard my prayer and He answered.  My strength, my shield and my hope.  My heart will rejoice in the LORD." (inspired by Psalm 28)

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.

" The LORD is on high forevermore ."  In another place we read, " He is highly exalted ."  He is still sustaining all things. He has shown us wonderful things and we should praise Him for them.  I think these verses are a great reminder of how faithful the LORD is to His promises.  Is your heart heavy, troubled by life's circumstances?  Look up friend; our Heavenly Father is still on His throne. He is on high forevermore . I'm not saying life won't be tough, but if we keep looking to Jesus and continually remember our blessed hope of eternity with Jesus, He will strengthen us to be able to bear the troubles that will come. Because He is faithful and has shown such great lovingkindness to us, we can choose to sing His praise with glad hearts. He has been very good to me.  I will choose to remember His mercies;  I will sing praises to the LORD who reigns on high forever. 

This repeated phrase seemed particularly appropriate at this time.  Praying this for those who really need the Lord to revive and strengthen them.