Our God

"He [God] is the Most High, Lord of heaven and earth. Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him." ~ A. W. Pink

Building Material

"Every day brings its own duty and its own discipline. How is it that I make such slow progress while this is the case? It is a marvel to me why God allows characters like mine to defile His Church. I can only account for it with the thought that if I ever am perfected, I shall be a great honor to His name for surely worse material for building up a temple of the Holy Ghost was never gathered together before. The time may come when those who know me now, crude, childish, incomplete, will look upon me with amazement, saying, 'What hath God wrought!' . . ."

~ Katherine Elliott, January 1, 1841, Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss

Look Up and Take Comfort

Art painting by Cornacchia

"O Christian, look up and take comfort. Jesus has prepared a place for you, and those who follow Him shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of His hands." ~ J.C. Ryle

God Created

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. 1:1

This is God's "deed" for the whole creation; it is a statement of ownership. The whole of the first chapter tells us how He did it, but this one verse is an absolute statement of truth. It is a grand summary statement that stands independent of all the others and introduces all the teaching on creation. [Synopsis of sermon by Pastor R. yesterday.]

A few other truths from the sermon:

1. Everything we have, know and are had a beginning.

2. God had no beginning. He is eternal.

3. The eternal God brought the heavens and earth into existence out of nothing.

4. The earth is the exclusive distinct object of His purposes. He distinguishes earth from all the others.

Now you have to agree we have a mighty God. Does He not have the right to have the final say about what His creation can and cannot do?

What I Remember

Poster borrowed from Truth for Life Facebook photos. Just such a wonderful truth, especially for those of us who are older.

A Message to Mothers, C.H. Spurgeon

"Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty. Christian women, by teaching children the Holy Scriptures, are as much fulfilling their part for the Lord, as Moses in judging Israel, or Solomon in building the temple."  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

A wonderful and touching message to mothers from Mr. Spurgeon. I know it's a day late, but this message is for any day of the year, and ALL days of the year. Read the rest of it here, at Raising Godly Children.

"Lovest Thou Me?

"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?". . .

Yesterday's morning and evening messages were both from the short passage found in 21:15-17, and were accompanied by really profound applications on the subject of love for Christ. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was impacted. Pastor C., our guest speaker, finished in the evening with the following words, penned by our beloved Elizabeth Pentriss, and what a perfect conclusion, since these words were being played out in our hearts already:

More love to thee, O Christ, More love to thee!

Hear thou the prayer I make On bended knee:

This is my earnest plea, More love, O Christ to thee,

More love to thee, More love to thee!

~ E Prentiss

Prayer on Suffering

 (Painting by Joseph DeCamp)

From Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss, we read in Katherine's journal entry for January 15, 1832:

"January 15. I have come to another birthday. I am seventeen. Mother has celebrated it just as usual, though I know all these anniversaries which used to be so pleasant must be sad days to her now that my dear father has gone. She has been cheerful and loving, and entered into all my pleasures exactly as if nothing had happened." 

I was reading Elisabeth Eliott's comments on this entry. She made these comments on her "Gateway to Joy" radio broadcast some years ago, but they're ever profound:

"Entered into all my pleasures as if nothing had happened." That's unselfishness. That is the new self. That's not natural for the old self. What can we learn from that mother's example of joy in sorrow? Joy is not incompatible with sorrow. We can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. What was the secret of her strength? I believe it was a pure heart. A heart given to God, resting in Him and therefore a heart able to give herself in love to her daughter, rather than giving way selfishly to her own sorrows" 

She also read a prayer that was written by someone else, as follows:

"Dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I hold up all my weakness to Your strength, my failure to Your faithfulness, my sinfulness to Your perfection, my loneliness to Your compassion, my little pains to Your great agony on the cross. I pray that You will cleanse me, strengthen me, guide me, so that in all ways my life may be lived as You would have it lived, without cowardice and for You alone. Show me how to live in true humility, true contrition and true love. Amen."

Something for us all to consider no matter what we're going through.

A Cottage

A cottage will not hold the bulky furniture and sumptuous accommodations of a mansion; but if God be there, a cottage will hold as much happiness as might stock a palace.

~ Dr. James Hamilton

Christ Exalted

"In this also Christ appeared gloriously above the guilt of men. For he offered a sacrifice that was sufficient to do away all the guilt of the whole world. Though the guilt of man was like the great mountains, whose heads are lifted up to the heavens; yet his dying love, and his merits, appeared as a mighty deluge that overflowed the highest mountains, or like a boundless ocean that swallows them up, or like an immense fountain of light that with the fullness and redundancy of its brightness, swallows up men’s greatest sins, as little motes are swallowed up and hidden in the disk of the sun.

"In this Christ appeared above all the corruption of man, in that hereby he purchased holiness for the chief of sinners. And Christ in undergoing such extreme affliction, got the victory over all misery; and laid a foundation for its being utterly abolished, with respect to his elect. In dying he became the plague and destruction of death. When death slew him, it slew itself. For Christ, through death, destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil (Heb. 2:14). By this he laid the foundation of the glorious resurrection of all his people to an immortal life."

~ From "Christ Exalted" by Jonathan Edwards 

Hallelujah. Meditate on this during this holy weekend.