We must of necessity be servant to someone, either to God or to sin. The sinner prides himself on his independence, completely overlooking the fact that he is the weak slave of the sins that rule his members. The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.
– A W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God
Tag: Discipleship
Good Works
Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing.
– Martin Luther
You Were Chosen
You were chosen.
Before the foundation of the world. Before time and space existed. Before all of creation. You were on God’s mind. He was thinking about you.
You were chosen.
According to the purpose of his will. His purpose. His will. It was his purpose, his good pleasure, to choose you. It was his desire to choose you. It was his delight to choose you.
You were chosen.
To be holy and blameless before him. To have your sin and guilt and shame removed. To be declared righteous in his sight. To live as one set apart unto God. To live for Him. To one day stand before him holy and blameless forever.
You were chosen.
For adoption as sons. To be God’s beloved child. To be part of God’s family. To receive an inheritance forever.
You were chosen.
In Christ. Through Jesus Christ. All because of Christ. As we are united to Christ.
You were chosen.
To the praise of his glorious grace. That God might be praised, exalted, lifted up, worshiped, glorified. For his grace toward us, his underserved favor, his unearned blessing, his glorious gift of salvation for us.
You were chosen.
Passion Points
Here are some good posts on Bible reading and study for your weekend reading:
Five Strategies for Daily Bible Reading – Gavin (Soliloquium)
Re-ignite Bible Reading That’s Become Boring – David Murray
Four Prayers for Bible Reading – David Mathis (Desiring God)
4 Tips for Using a Study Bible Well – Justin Taylor
7 Great Study Bibles (Infographic) – Tim Challies
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day studying God’s Word with your local church!
Satisfied
The person who believes in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now and to content him forevermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for lack of comfort and whose nights are long on account of the absence of heart-cheering thought. The believer finds in faith such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon, and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, and he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, and he will meet the “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Destroy all his shade, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; erode the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord.
The heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it, and then it becomes a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fullness in Christ that He alone is the believer’s sufficiency. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the provision of Jesus that he no longer thirsts-except perhaps to drink more deeply at the living fountain.
In that sweet manner, believer, you will thirst; it will not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; you will find it a sweet thing to be longing for a deeper enjoyment of Jesus’ love. An old saint once declared, “I have been lowering my bucket into the well so often, but now my thirst for Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to my lips and drink right out of it.”
Is this the feeling of your heart now, believer? Do you feel that all your desires are satisfied in Jesus and that you have no need now except to know more of Him and to have closer fellowship with Him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much but will always welcome you, saying, “Drink; yes, drink abundantly, loved one.”
– Charles Spurgeon in Morning and Evening (Updated by Alistair Begg)
Sermon Songs: Psalm 16:7-8
I want to walk close to my God
In all I say and do
So as I daily walk this sod
Lord keep my gaze on You
Listening to Your Holy Word
and by Your Spirit led
Praising You for what I have learned
For what You’ve done and said
Knowing You are at my right side
Your presence is with me
In You I’m safe, in You I hide
In You security
(To the tune of the “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)
Sermon Songs: Psalm 16:5-6
I want to walk close to my God
In all I say and do
He satisfies like no false god
He is the God who’s true
The Lord is my chosen portion
A cup of refreshment
He holds my lot – I’ll trust in Him
My God all-sufficient
In pleasant places fall the lines
And in Him I will rest
My wondrous inheritance shines
With God forever blessed
(To the tune of the “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)
Passion Points
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Exceptionally Ordinary – Borrowed Light
4 Things to Remember When Reading the Bible – Matt Tully (Crossway)
4 Really Good Money Questions – Tim Challies
Prepare for Corporate Worship – Geoffrey Kirkland
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day prepared to worship our great King!
Begin in Mercy a New Work
O God,
I have tasted Thy goodness,
and it has both satisfied me
and made me thirsty for more.
I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.
I am ashamed of my lack of desire.
O God, the Triune God,
I want to want Thee;
I long to be filled with longing;
I thirst to be made more thirsty still.
Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee,
that so I may know Thee indeed.
Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.
Say to my soul,
“Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
Then give me grace to rise
and follow Thee up from this misty lowland
where I have wandered so long.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
– A. W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God
