Sporadic Reflections: The Intimacy of Life

"May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my rock, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 © Beautyoffall

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"God is who it is all about. It’s not the work, not the writing or the thinking or the enduring intellectual influence on America. It really is all about God."

- John Piper

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Contrary to popular belief, I adore the rap & hip-hop genre, though only a selective collection of songs. If done right, they have a unique and powerful way of communicating a message of grace.

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"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God... Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love... This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

- 1 John 4:7,8,10-11

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Love

"Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Draw nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lack'd anything. "A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here"; Love said, "You shall be he." "I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear, I cannot look on thee." Love took my hand and smiling did reply, "Who made the eyes but I?" "Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame  Go where it doth deserve." "And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?" "My dear, then I will serve." "You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat." So I did sit and eat"

- George Herbert

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"If you only obey God's word when it seems reasonable or profitable to you-- well, that isn't really obedience at all. Obedience means you cede someone an authority over you that is there even when you don't agree with Him. God's law is for times of temptation, when "body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigor"". - Tim Keller

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“Lord, help me to appreciate this person without elevating him (or her) above You in my heart. Help me to remember that no human can ever take Your place in my life. You are my strength, my hope, my joy, and my ultimate reward. Bring me back to reality, God; give me an undivided heart.” — Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye)

[mixstix]

Apparently, then, our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be re-united with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honour beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache… The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy.

C.S Lewis, The Weight of Glory (via mixstix)

[betterbooktitles]

Victor Hugo: Les Misérables

Reader Submission: Title and Redesign by Albert Santos.

[dillondean]

The strangest thing about Canada is that university tuition is this much:

“On average, undergraduate students paid $5,366 in tuition fees in 2011/2012.” Statistics Canada, 2011

And they still believe their tuition is too high.

Meanwhile, every American student is lucky to...

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I feel like this is the most important photo I’ve ever taken.

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It's so admiring to see people who are willing to lose it all for Christ. Just sayin'.

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Such a beautiful song.

Let the Waters Rise - Mikechairs

Don't know where to begin, it's like my world's cavin' in And I try but I can't control my fear, where do I go from here? Sometimes it's so hard to pray when You feel so far away But I am willin' to go where You want me to and God I trust You There's a ragin' sea right in front of me Wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees So let the waters rise if You want them to I will follow You, I will follow You, I will follow You I will swim in the deep 'cause You'll bein' next to me You're in the eye of the storm and the calm of the sea You're never out of reach God, You know where I've been and You were there with me then You were faithful before, You'll be faithful again, I'm holdin' Your hand There's a ragin' sea right in front of me Wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees So let the waters rise if You want them to I will follow You, I will follow You, I will follow You God Your love is enough, You will pull me through, I'm holdin' onto You God Your love is enough, I will follow You, I will follow You There's a ragin' sea right in front of me Wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees So let the waters rise if You want them to I will follow You, I will follow You, I will follow You

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For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Jesus didn’t come to please the religious crowd. Jesus didn’t come to pander to the social crowd. Instead, Jesus entered the world to save sinners. When we look back over the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus reach out to men and women, young and old, powerful and forgotten, demon possessed, and the politically connected. He came to save sinners of all shapes, sizes, and stripes. He came to save you and me.

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Fear Is Just A Lie - Mike Donehey - Video Journal (by tenthavenuenorth)

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French Toast! (at Dillon's)

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Such a beautiful, snowy evening. :)