November 19, 2009
Quotes by Samuel Rutherford from "The Loveliness of Christ"
"Lord cut, Lord carve, Lord wound, Lord do anything that may perfect thy Father's image in us, and make us meet for glory."
"So narrow is the entry to heaven, that our knots, our bunches and lumps of pride, and self-love, and idol-love, and world love must be hammered off us, that we may throng in, stooping low, and creeping through that narrow and thorny entry."
Perhaps the greatest challanges in the Christian faith is our willingness to allow the Lord, as Rutherford writes, to cut, carve, wound, perfect, and hammer. This truly challanges me to my very core. Yet when I think of the times I've fully submitted my will to His, I can't once say that I've been let down. I think Rutherford says it well: "I have little of him yet I long for more."
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Heavenward
November 17, 2009
My hope is that this blog will be an encouragement not just for myself but for my family and friends as well. I'll post quotes, thoughts, prayers, music, humor and anything else that might be worth mentioning.
"Heavenward" comes from Phillippians 3:12-14. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
My prayer is that we might be people who don't see ourselves as "arrived" but in constant need of Jesus. We have a purpose, a goal, and a home; It's heavenward in Christ. We often (daily) need to be reminded that this place isn't our home. So why do we get so attached? The answer is usually because we've taken our eyes off the goal. To be "heavenward" is to die to ourselves, pick up our cross, store treasure in heaven, evan be willing to share in his sufferings, be like him in his death and somehow, attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).
The cost is great but the reward is eternal
My hope is that this blog will be an encouragement not just for myself but for my family and friends as well. I'll post quotes, thoughts, prayers, music, humor and anything else that might be worth mentioning.
"Heavenward" comes from Phillippians 3:12-14. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
My prayer is that we might be people who don't see ourselves as "arrived" but in constant need of Jesus. We have a purpose, a goal, and a home; It's heavenward in Christ. We often (daily) need to be reminded that this place isn't our home. So why do we get so attached? The answer is usually because we've taken our eyes off the goal. To be "heavenward" is to die to ourselves, pick up our cross, store treasure in heaven, evan be willing to share in his sufferings, be like him in his death and somehow, attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).
The cost is great but the reward is eternal
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