[skotizo]

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve,

I was made weak that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health that I might do great things.

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power when I was young that I might

have the praise of men;

I was given weakness that I might feel the need for God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.”

[skotizo]

The profound beauty in our weakness is that it is the very thing that makes us human—and the avenue by which God’s strength is most apparent. There in the struggle to accept our weaknesses, we learn humility, gentleness, and a different definition of strength.

As we learn to live as imperfect, weak human beings, let us pursue an honest expression of ourselves. As we connect with others, let us be humble and kind. As we go forth in this world, let us recognize the beauty in our collective weakness and the strength of God’s grace.

[skotizo]

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

[skotizo]

So the two main effects expressed here are these: quickening and cleansing.

Fire gives warmth. We talk about ardent desires, warm hearts, the glow of love, the fire of enthusiasm, and even the flame of life. We draw the contrast with cold natures, which are loveless and unemotional, hard to stir and quicken; we talk about thawing reserve, about an icy torpor, and so on. The same general strain of allusion is undoubtedly to be traced in our text. Whatever more it means, it surely means this, that Christ comes to kindle in men's souls a blaze of enthusiastic, divine love, such as the world never saw, and to set them aflame with fervent earnestness, which shall melt all their icy hardness of heart, and turn cold self-regard into self-forgetting consecration.

[skotizo]

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Ok.

[joypettigrew]

the love you had at first

Revelation 2 - “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.“

The church of ephesus were doing all the right things. Detesting evil and testing false prophets. They were enduring patiently and bearing each other in the name of Jesus. On top of all that, they were not weary (how they maintained emotional health without burnout in the absence of love baffles me). But it wasn’t enough.

“all religion is summed up in one word, Love. God asks this; we cannot give more; He cannot take less”

God does not only require our obedience and sacrifice. He requires our whole-hearted love.

[adastravici]

But as for me, I am poor and needy;    may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer;    you are my God, do not delay.

Psalm 40: 17 (via adastravici)

[skotizo]

The gospel is the good news of gracious acceptance. Jesus lived the life we should live. He also paid the penalty we owe for the rebellious life we do live. He did this in our place (Isaiah 53:4-10; 2 Cor 5:21; Mark 10:45). We are not reconciled to God through our efforts and record, but through his efforts and record. Christians who trust in Christ for their acceptance with God, rather than in their own moral character, commitment, or performance, are simul iustus et peccator- simultaneously sinful yet accepted. We are more flawed and sinful than we ever dared believe, yet we are more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope at the same time.

Tim Keller, The Meaning of The Gospel

[skotizo]

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:10-12

[skotizo]

isaiah 48:17

This is what the Lord says—    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God,    who teaches you what is best for you,    who directs you in the way you should go.”

[richithomas]

Visit Original Link

Hillsong Live :: Love Like Fire

[lightspeck]

Visit Original Link

[adastravici]

The same power that conquered the grave lives in me.

Your love that rescued the earth lives in me. 

[skotizo]

1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭1-13‬

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

[adastravici]

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14 (via adastravici)

[worshipgifs]

[divine-aphasia-deactivated20180]

I have heard the gospel a thousand times, in a thousand forms. No matter, preach it to me again. I hunger, I tire, I sigh. Preach it to me again; it is my food, it is my rest, it is my sweet embrace. Preach it to me again, will you have me starve by the lack of it? Tell me of my sin, I beg, tell me of the Son. Tell me of our Fountainhead; tell me what He’s done. 

[je-fais]

Visit Original Link

and through it all, through it all, my eyes are on you.

and through it all, through it all, it is well with me.