dW 04.04.08

scripture

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

 

quote

 

Shall light troubles make you forget weighty mercies?

John Flavel

 

thoughts

 

I am overwhelmed. I had to take a breather from rushing to and fro on campus so I found a table between many large, tall trees. I put my bag on the ground. I sat up on the table top and laid back. In the trees around me I could see squirrels chasing each other in their branches and I saw many different types of birds gliding about between them. I took a deep breath and noticed jet trails in the sky. They were running north and south. They floated quickly and faded slowly in the piece of sky overhead. I felt the breeze on my face and the coolness of the midmorning. A bird chirped in the brush and I felt peace. I then realized that if I had lain there any longer I’d fall asleep. So I said a prayer to thank God for His creation and His care over me.

 

Take some time today to breath and meditate on God.

dW 04.03.08

scripture

 

1 Peter 1:3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

 

thought

 

Faith has a price. Here Peter explains that it is worth more than gold.

It is a great encouragement that even though being in the flames hurts

us we know that God gives us the strength to endure and that the end

result will be worth it.

 

quote

 

Matthew is supposed to have suffered martyrdom by being put to death by a halberd, a slender ax for splitting helmets, in a city of ancient Ethiopia.

Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, till he died.

Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in Greece.

John miraculously escaped death when put into a cauldron of boiling oil at Rome.  He afterwards died a natural death at Ephesus.

James the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem.

James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle or wing of the temple, stoned, and finally beaten to death with a fuller's club.

Philip was hanged up against a pillar at Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia.

Bartholomew was put to death by the command of a barbarous king in Armenia.

Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to the people till he expired.

Thomas was run through the body by a lance in the East Indies.

Jude was cruelly put to death in Persia.

Simon Zelotes was crucified by the Druids in Britain.

Matthias was stoned and then beheaded.

- Unknown

dW 04.02.08

scripture

 

Psalm 57:2

I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me.  

 

observation

 

What is the purpose of life? Ask God.

Why ask God? Because he directs our lives.

For what result? To fulfill HIS purposes for us.

 

thought

 

A missionary who served in Papua New Guinea named Brad Buser explained how we like lists. We like to make them and order all the items on the list in their significance. Christians should attempt to keep God at the top of the list. However, Christians are human too so God gets knocked down the list every now and then. He then commented that putting God at the top of our lists are not enough and is actually an insult to God. We must make God the list. Once God is the list, the other stuff begins to take care of itself by either by getting addressed or put to the wayside because it was actually a distraction. What would it take for you to make God your list?

dW 03.28.08

scripture

 

Philippians 1:27
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

 

quote

 

Because we are the handiwork of God it follows that all our problems and their solutions are theological.
A. W. Tozer

 

thoughts

 

Tozer is my hero today. When right theology is applied then right orthopraxy will result. Boy, does this speak to me today. To deny this is evidence of compromise and an unwillingness to confront whatever issue there might be.

 

In my mind I picture two farmers leaning on their spades talking. One farmer says to the other, “That there spade is in great condition.” With indignation the other farmer responds, “How dare you call this a spade! This is an excavation tool.”

 

I believe that the church is in grave danger when it lacks the ability to call out its members, let alone the world when it comes to that which is ungodly.

dW 03.27.08

scripture

 

Matthew 12:34

Jesus said, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

 

quote

 

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. -Brennan Manning

 

thoughts

 

Calling yourself a Christian is different than being a Christian.

dW 03.26.08

scripture

 

Colossians 3:2  

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  

 

quote

 

O God, who dost prefer before all temples the upright heart and pure, and who dost instruct us in all truth: we know that if we walk with Thee what in us is dark Thou wilt illumine; what is low, raise and support; what is shallow, deepen; so that every chapter of our lives will witness to Thy power, and justify the ways of God to men.

Westminster Abbey Prayer

 

Today’s dW scripture and quote pairing was taken from www.thisdaysthought.org.

dW 03.25.08

scripture

 

1 Timothy 6:17-19

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

 

quote

 

There are many fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances.  But the only time that is surely yours is the present.  Hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others.  Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of some less fortunate fellow traveler.  Today you can make your life significant and worthwhile.  The present is yours to do with it as you will.

Grenville Kleiser

dW 03.24.08

scripture

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

 

quote

 

Let this be thy whole endeavor, this thy prayer, this thy desire,--that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire simplicity follow Jesus only.

Thomas Kempis

dW 03.21.08

scripture

 

John 14:1-4

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

 

quote

 

And He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him.  For He departed, and behold, He is here.

Augustine

dW 03.20.08

scripture

 

1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 

quote

 

The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity.

Lord Byron