Untitled

[craigtowens]

Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the blows of a friend as precious. And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God. The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful and a very painful thing. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help.

John Piper (via craigtowens)

[anoceanofprofundity]

Nothing makes God more supreme and more central than when a people are utterly persuaded that nothing – not money or prestige or leisure or family or job or health or sports or toys or friends – is going to bring satisfaction to their aching hearts besides God. This conviction breeds a people who passionately long for God on Sunday morning. They are not confused about why they are here. They do not see songs and prayers and sermons as mere traditions or mere duties. They see them as means of getting to God or God getting to them for more of His fullness.

John Piper (via anoceanofprofundity)

[susankim]

“We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? It is a great sadness that this is the gospel of the modern world.

But it is not the Christian Gospel. Into the darkness of petty self-preoccupation has shone "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Christian Gospel is about “the glory of Christ,” not about me. And when it is - in some measure - about me, it is not about my being made much of by God, but about God mercifully enabling me to enjoy making much of him forever.“ -John Piper, "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ”

[thejesuszone]

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:15-18 (via thejesuszone)

[jillianchan]

I don’t understand much, but of this I am sure—he is with me, he is in me, and he is for me.I cannot tell myself that I am unable when he empowers me by grace. Here is the bottom line—I am comfortable with not knowing, because he knows and he is with me forever.

Paul David Tripp (via jillianchan)

[jeffreyrobison]

Excellence is, in fact, a relationship. There is only One who is truly and perfectly excellent. He alone is the sum and definition of what excellence is and does. So the one who is excellence, in His grace, came to you when you were in a state of anything but excellence, and by grace offered you the promise of actually becoming a partaker of His divine nature. He then connects you to purposes and goals way higher, way grander and more glorious than you would every have sought for yourself… Your hope of ever being excellent in His eyes and doing what is excellent in His sight is found in your relationship to Him and in His grace that not only forgives and accepts but radically transforms. And He calls and empowers you to display His excellency and the excellency of His grace. It is only this excellency that has the power to free us from the false excellency of human pride and the mediocrity that results when we are okay with ourselves and our world just the way they are.

Paul David Tripp, “Mediocrity” taken from Dangerous Calling, Crossway Books, 2012, p. 142-143. (via jeffreyrobison)

[lucid222reveries]

He not only forgives us but delights in us despite our persistent failures and persistent rebellions against Him. If you meditate on that, think on that, and dwell on that, it doesn’t produce love if you don’t have faith in that. But if you have faith in that, you actually believe that, you actually believe right now, not you later, not some future version of you, but you right now, you believe God looks at you and sees you as holy, spotless, and blameless and you know you’re not - when you believe God delights in you when you know there is not a lot of reason for him to delight in you, faith in that leads to a love that begins to motivate our behavior. We go, “You want me to live like what? Oh man, I’ll live like that. You want me to forsake that and run to that? Man, I’ll do that.” Love is a powerful motivating force.

Matt Chandler (via ramsesprashad)

[alyssaclarisse]

Listen to this. This is the woman that the Lord loves. Proverbs 31:25-30, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” So the Scriptures say, “Don’t find your hope, don’t find your purpose, don’t find meaning from external beauty. Cultivate your soul, and cultivate your mind.”

Matt Chandler (via alyssaclarisse)

[tblaberge]

Life is not found in seeking our own happiness, nor is it found in pursuing your dreams. Life is found in Jesus, for when we have finished our time on this earth, we will see that happiness and work will not be waiting for us with open arms. That is Christ alone, nothing we have will follow us into the next life. The precious time that we have been given will last only for a moment, and we must realize that it’s not about seeking out things for personal gain. It’s about pursuing a God who loves so unconditionally that we will be met with the fullness of life unlike ever before. When we follow Christ truly by laying down our lives and pride, we will find that loving others, helping our communities, engaging in true and deep relationships, will become like breathing because we have chosen to connect with Jesus first and foremost. Make the effort today to choose Christ, for when we do, we will be able to face sorrow, pain, love, work, friendships, and all the things this life has with a new and better understanding. We will face it with grace and assurance that it is Christ alone that we lean on.

T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)

[jillianchan]

I don’t understand much, but of this I am sure—he is with me, he is in me, and he is for me.I cannot tell myself that I am unable when he empowers me by grace. Here is the bottom line—I am comfortable with not knowing, because he knows and he is with me forever.

Paul David Tripp (via jillianchan)

[imchangedfromtheinsideout]

Of course, it’s easy to trust God when the bush is burning, the waters are parting, and the mountains are shaking— it’s those silent years that are discouraging. But blessed is the person who does not interpret the silence of God as the indifference of God!

Erwin W. Lutzer, Getting closer to God (via imchangedfromtheinsideout)

[randomsurities]

Where the tent is pitched, trim the wick

(Ex. 27)

i. The entire tabernacle was a tent - a moveable structure. God wanted Israel to know He was with them wherever they went…..

ii. “The Hebrews were meant to feel that the God of their fathers was a fellow-pilgrim, that where they pitched He pitched, that their enemies, difficulties, and long toilsome marches were His.” (Meyer) Guzik

(21b) Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning.

We can only continue to be on fire for God if we are continually supplied with the oil of the Holy Spirit, and are “trimmed” by God to bear more light.

ii. In dark days there is all the more reason to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be “trimmed wicks” for the Lord. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6) For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). Guzik

[awakeandsteady-deactivated20180]

Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us.

Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage  (via victoryinherheart)

[set-apartgirl]

Wisdom is the difference between knowing a world-class biologist who can write your papers for you and studying under a world-class biologist so that you can write the kind of papers he would write. Too many of us want God to be the world-class scholar who will write our papers and live out our lives for us, when God wants us to sit at His feet and read His Word so that we can live a life in the image of His Son. God doesn’t tell us the future for this simple, yet profound reason: We become what we behold. God wants us to behold Him in His glory so that we can be transformed into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something (via set-apartgirl)

[daughterbydesign]

Alone. That’s how Satan wants us. Alone with our own tangled thoughts. Alone with his whispered lies that start to sound more and more like truths. Separated from the very people who could speak courage into our deep places flirting with discouragement and defeat. Separated from friends who could let us stand on their faith when our own gets a little shaky. The enemy knows if he can isolate us, he can intimidate us. Confuse us. Deceive us. And ultimately, make us believe that the safer paths in life are ones apart from God and our friends who serve God. Sweet friend, if you have felt isolated recently, I want to encourage you to reach out to that friend who leads you back to God time and time again. If you are longing for a friend like that tonight, turn toward Jesus. Ask Him to send a godly friend your way. And know that I am praying for you to find that kind of friendship too.

Lysa TerKeurst (via daughterbydesign)

[this-abounding-grace-deactivate]

When the church isn’t for the suffering and broken, then the church isn’t for Christ. Because Jesus, with His pierced side, is always on the side of the broken. Jesus always moves into places moved with grief. Jesus always seeks out where the suffering is, and that’s where Jesus stays. The wound in His side proves that Jesus is always on the side of the suffering, the wounded, the busted, the broken.

Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way (via this-abounding-grace)

[jacintanest-deactivated20200103]

When you’re looking to light a fire, you don’t search for a wet blanket or damp wood and twigs - you search for items that are ready to be lit, you search for items that will aid in the ignition of the fire and fuel the sparks into a roaring flame. So why is it that when we feel God moving and stirring, and we hear God speaking, that we decide to listen to the sticks in the mud? Why do we employ the opinions of the wet blankets, and allow ourselves to be held back by those who are closed off to change, transformation and release? When The Holy Spirit is leading us to embrace new, challenging mountains where we live by faith and not by sight, why are we not running with arms high and hearts abandoned in the direction of His will? Instead of trusting the maker of the universe, we look to the opinions, thoughts and views of man. We excuse our reliability on humanistic approaches over spiritual advances by calling it ‘wisdom’ when it’s nothing more than insecurity and fear. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self discipline; a spirit that is unashamed and empowered by the gospel. (2 Tim 1:6-7). God did not set you free to live your life seeking the approval and the directions of man, He did not captivate, pursue and renew your heart so that you might rely on the opinions of those around you, no. He broke bondages, released shackles and freed you from the shame of your past. He anointed you with the sacrifice of Christ, offering you eternal life - He gave you a new sound and a new voice, so that you might live your life in wonder of His existence and unfailing love. It’s time to rise up as children of The Most High King. It’s time to roar like the lions and lionesses that we are. It’s time to forget about what WE have decided people must want, and to start whole heartedly chasing after what GOD KNOWS people need. You are fierce, you are mighty, you are an ambassador, a forger and a carrier of His flame. The time to awaken from our slumber and usher in His presence is now. Since we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood; it is time to arrest our cities and nations, and be the bold and fearless men and women we are called to be for His glory.

Follow @jacinta.nest / @heykinta on Instagram for more faith based and inspirational devotionals.