Quotes =]

Was it possible that so complicated a phenomenon could have so simple and terrible an explanation? Could it really be that all the talk about freedom, justice, goodness, law, religion, God and so on was nothing but so many words to conceal the grossest self-interest and cruelty?
(Leo Tolstoy)

God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen but by its being rejoiced in.
(Jonathan Edwards)

What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is and no more.
(R.M M'Cheyne)

Just as God's Word must reform out theology, our ethics, and practices so on must it reform our praying.
(D.A Carson)

He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves, not for Thy sake.
(St. Augustine)

True saints have their minds, in the first place, inexpressibly pleased and delighted with the sweet ideas of the glorious and amiable nature of the things of God.
(Jonathan Edwards)

Error can never be eradicated from the heart of man until the true knowledge of God has been implanted in it.
(John Calvin)

But my recovery cannot spring from any cause in me, I can destroy but cannot save myself.
(Valley of Vision)

Where Christ is, cheerfulness will keep breaking in.
(Dorothy Sayers)

Anchora Imparo.
[Yet I am learning.]
(Michelangelo)

A Life Full of Mindless Joys is Not Easy to Enjoy...

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
(Hebrews 11: 25-26)

I've been reading.
It's funny how a night with a book and a cup of chai is so much more satisfying than the ordinary 3 hours with a computer and a tv is, isn't it?
It's interesting; there are so many things that capture our attention, and most of them don't have much that is concrete and thought-provoking to add to it. Aren't we called to think on the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise? (Phil. 4:8)
So, why are our minds filled with endless thoughts of that cute guy over there, or what exactly happened on that tv show, or what all did go on last Saturday night, or what the heck just happened to Nick and Kendra?!? Things like this in my opinion are just another way to waste your life. Mark Helprin tells us that intellect, when focused on things like this, "has been sentenced to death. The mind you see is like a muscle. For it to remain agile and strong, it must work. Television rules that out."

Things like these are just taking up way too much of our time.
I know that I have been convicted of things like this- to be honest, my time is mostly spent on things like facebook and tv shows. I've been reading this book called "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper, and it's really showing me that my life can't be focused around mindless joys. My mind, my feelings, my life should be focused around what is pleasing and glorifying to Him. The mindless joy of tv, or a computer is not.... really glorifying Him, when I don't even taking 15 minutes out of my day to talk with Him.
Moses considered the Lord and the pursuit of Him to be worth far more than any amount of riches, fame, glory, respect etc, that he could have had through being the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He forsook it, because he was so in love with the Lord, and His promises. He put the Lord over his earthly joys and comfort, and in return he turned out to be one of the most respected men in the Bible. He is believed to have written the Torah, or in other words the first 5 books of the Old Testament, he is the one of the only people ever that have seen glimpses of the glory of God, and he is one of the 5 people that were allowed to be on the mountain during Jesus' transfiguration . He had such a close walk with God, and while he wasn't perfect by any means, he was definitely someone to look up to as an example.

There are so many people like this that have given up a lot to be with God. They love, and are faithful to Him, spot on pictures of true, Godly radiance,  some gave their lives for His sake, and look at me? I don't give Him even a few hours throughout the day for His glory. Reasoning? Oh yeah- lamest in the book. "I just don't feel like it."

If you really think about, in my pursuit towards "happiness" in the form of an iPod, or a computer... I am ultimately rejecting the only pure and true happiness I'll ever find. The Lord.

I have fallen short. I have turned aside from His generosity, and despised those perfect gifts that He has given me. Lord, don't let me continue in the life of the fast and easy but press on towards eternal happiness. Let my life reflect who You are and please, don't let me say at the end of my life on earth that I have wasted my life towards the attainment of mindless joys, and forsaken the true Lord.      

The Folly of Indifference

So, I'm just sitting here. I was bored, the others are watching a movie, and I was feeling like writing.
The funny thing was that I was trying to think of something to write about, and I never seem to write about anything other than Christianity, so I was trying and trying to think of something like that to write about. (I really need to get more original, right? Oh well, if I learn by writing, like I am convinced I do, then I'd be happy to write about Christianity for a longgg time.)

Indifference was finally the topic I came up with. Like you all probably know by now, I always write about stuff that I'm going through; kinks in the spiritual life that I need to acknowledge and give over to God.

So, anyways, I was thinking about it. Indifference is probably one of the most dangerous things that we as Christians can fall into.
Sin? Well, since I am of the once saved always saved belief, I believe that when we are truly saved, then we can't exactly fall out of our perfection that we attain through Christ. Jesus doesn't do a job halfway- once He redeems us, we are redeemed. He will not give us back to our sinful ways, and any assuming that we can fall back into the completely Godless life is, in my opinion, a slap in His face. Like I said, this is just my beliefs take them or leave them.
So, I don't think that we really need to fear sin as much. We need to constantly lean on Christ for support though, and trust in Him to deliver us, but we shouldn't fear it as much as there are other things to be wary of.

Lack of friends / social standing? Well, the answer to that is simple.
Friends are important to me tremendously, but as far as being scared when we don't have any... that's kind of far out there. God is our Friend, and if we have Him, we shouldn't really need anyone else.

Murder? Well, I would say that a true Christian doesn't need to worry about that either. When we die, we will see our Lord and be received into perfect glory. What more could a lover of Christ need?

Anyways, the more I think about it, the more I see that indifference to God is something to be feared.

Charles Spurgeon said that  "anything is better than the dead calm of indifference". 


I have seen in my experience, that the bad days, the days when I am the most scared of what is going on in my spiritual life are not the days when I'm having a flat out terrible day, frustrations galore, insanely busy etc, etc. Nope. Those are advantageous days, because if I really tried to spend the time with my Lord, I would be learning.
The days that are bad are when they are "dead calm". They are good in a sense, but I haven't thought of God, and I haven't given Him much of anything, and those are my "good" days. That is when I think to myself, and those are the days that I am terrified of.
I mean, what is it? Why am I indifferent? What possible reason for indifference could I have? I have God; A  perfect, loving, just, gracious, redeeming, all together lovely God. He is my Lord- the one to whom I owe my life, because He saved it, and isn't that what I need to do with it? Devote it to Christ's service?
The answer is yes, by the way.

So, in my opinion, indifference to God is sin against God.
God is to be adored, not shoved aside.
God is to be glorified, not ignored.
God is to be honored, not despised.

God is to be the source of our life, the fire that burns within us, the one who keeps us going.
How can we see Him as that, when we are lukewarm?

When we become indifferent to Him we are not glorifying Him, and as we are doing that, we are forsaking true, lasting joy, and wasting our lives. (Christian hedonism for the win!)

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries"
(Hebrews 10: 26:27).

Philip Schaff talks about the church in Laodicea as being: "in that most dangerous state of indifference and lukewarmness from which it is more difficult to return to the former decision and ardor, than it was to pass at first from the natural coldness to faith"

Don't let that happen. Don't deliberately exercise the sin of indifference. 
Don't return to that stupidity.
Love. Live. Glorify Him in all that you do. Constantly watch against indifference.

"Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it."
(Psalm 34:14)

All is Full of Love.

All is Full of Love.

Okay, yes. I actually just quoted Death Cab for Cutie b-side lyrics for my deep, intellectual, spiritual, blog of the day (or week/month/year/decade).

Here's the thing.
I was trying and trying earlier to find peace and love. The love that I was seeking I was trying to find from friends, and I don't know where exactly I was trying to find my peace.
A messed up, pre-concieved, version of a god that I just came up with- something that I fit to suit my needs and wants and wasn't anywhere in accordance with Scripture, was where I was trying to find peace, I guess.
It must not have been too genuine though because after all;
"No religion is genuine that is not in accordance with truth",
and
"... religion if it is true must be conformable to God's holy, inerring will- that has to be its standard, otherwise there is little to no value to it".
I really doubt that it was in accordance with my God's Word, whatever it was.

Then, about an hour ago, I had Sebastian (the pod-pod) on shuffle and not necessarily the song itself inspired me, but more just the title.

All is full of love.
Think about it.
ALL is full of love.
Where am I trying to find my all?
From friends? From a computer? From an iPod? From books? From pride? From camp? That last one actually hurts to say because it is so true, that it is insane.
(None of them are bad things at all, unless they bring you further from God & are not glorifying Him, by the way.)

I don't even know, but that question just stuck with me.

Then I started thinking about it. What does the Bible say about love? What is love?
The first thing that I thought of was, of course, "God is love" from 1 John 4:16.

So, in the above list.... were any of the things listed anything that remotely resembled or brought glory and honor to God? Not that they don't, but was I using them to grow closer to Him and to glorify Him?
Nope.
I'm a selfish, fallen, totally depraved human being.
Nothing in me or anything that I was trying to pull off, was bringing Him glory unless He was the good in me.
I was just ugly earlier, nothing else to it.

So, here's the thing, I need to find my God again. I need to seek Him and love Him in all that I do, because only then will I find happiness and love.

So, how exactly?

Well, in my daily readings for Advent, I found this verse from Joel 2.

"Yet even now", declares the Lord,
"return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with
mourning, and rend your hearts and not your
garments."
Return to the Lord, your God,
for He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love;
and He relents over disaster.
(ESV)

And then to quote a few other verses... (they'll all be from the English Standard Version)

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
-Luke 17:33

But this I [God speaking to one of the seven churches in the 2nd chapter of Revelations] have against you, that you abandoned the love you had at first.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.
He who has an ear to hear let him hear....
Revelations 2: 3-5, 7.

Be angry [or agitated/unsatisfied with self] and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on
your beds and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord
Psalm 4: 4-5

For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity
for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galations 5:13

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things that you want to do.
Galations 5:16-17

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"
Matthew 6: 33

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands.
1 Thessolonians 4:11

And here are a few epic quotes that I just had to share with you guys.

Let your intellect be excercised concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read; stop not at the surface; dive into the depths...
Abide with your Lord: let Him not be to you as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth for a night but constrain Him...
Hold Him, and do not let Him go.
(Spurgeon)

"If thou love in all thy thought and hate the filth of sin,
and give thy heart to Him that it bought, that He it weld win,
as thy soul Christ hath sought and thereof would not cease,
so thou shall to bliss be brought and heaven won within."

The love of Him overcometh all things,
in love we live and die.
(Anonymus)

"If true religion is to beam on us, our principle must be that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teachings, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture."

"For not only does faith, full and perfect faith, but all correct knowledge of God originate in obedience."

"Error can never be eradicated from the heart of man until the true knowledge of God has been implanted in it"
(John Calvin)

(Haha, yes, I do read a lot of Calvin and Spurgeon in case you couldn't tell. ;] )

So, basically, I need to walk by the Spirit.
Do what God wants me to do, seek Him constantly through His Word & prayer, and through love serve others.

It's easier said then done, but I will accomplish this, because I have my God, who will lead me every step of the way.
He's always there to lean on, and I can't do it by myself, but through Him I am more than a conqueror, because for some reason that I can never find, He loves me.

I will find love.
Not through idiotic, mindless, selfish, material things, but through my Lord.
Through servitude, and dependency, and the knowledge that there is nothing in life that is worth it, unless that is founded on God.

I will find love.
The real kind that does not waver; the love that I can only find through the Lover of my soul.

All I can say right now is that "You are good, and do good", Lord.

<3

"Oh to Grace How Great A Debtor, Daily I'm Constrained To Be.."

So.
This is kind of a praise note, recording what my God, the Lover of my soul did for me earlier today.

I was depressed, lonely, felt unloved, and etc, etc (I blame it on the natural high level of hormones going berserk in my body right now :P), and the Lord just came through for me again, like He always does.
I basically slept all afternoon, and then, when I decided to stop being such a slob, I went and curled up on the bench in my room with a quilt and did some reading.

First off, I read a bit out of a book on Calvinism, and it was a chapter on Unconditional Election. Right then I was going through a part where it highlighted that election is personal, that God doesn't just pick names out of a hat- that He chooses you, because He loves you. That just kind of blew my mind anyways, but I was still feeling a bit depressed and frustrated, and so I prayed and asked for His comfort.
I actually got this prayer out of a podcast that I'll listen to occasionally and it went something like this:

"You are my God who loves, and who showed us by sacrificing Your Son for my sin.
You have called me to lay my burdens down and to make my requests known to You in prayer.
You have promised in Your Word that all things are for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your purpose, and I am laying this down at Your feet, trusting that You have my life in Your hands, and I trust that You will be my God of comfort."

That made my mood so much better- fellowship with my Lord in prayer does wonders for me, when I remember to spend that time with Him.

But, His grace just kept coming.

For some reason, (and maybe it was because that He knew that I would need it at this very moment in my life? I don't know... that's the best reason I can think of, though), I had written about 10 different Bible verses in a notebook (I keep this just for notes during my devos), right below this prayer.

"Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved."
(Psalm 55:22)

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
(Psalm 34:4-7)

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
(Psalm 34: 18-19)

For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid.
(Psalm 112:6-8)

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
(Psalm 145:8-9)

It was amazing how my Lord and Saviour worked in my heart earlier- He literally turned my mood around in just 15 minutes, and those minutes were amazing.
<3

"As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my Deliverer."
(Psalm 40:17)

What's On My Arm

Okay, so, I'll write down quotes, and Bible verses and practically everything on my arms.
It used to just be the palm of my hand, but I decided to extend that, and now it's allll over my left arm.
<3 it!

Anyways, right now, I have verse from Psalm 40:

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my Deliverer.
(Psalm 40:17)

Okay, so that's on my palm, and on my arm, there's a Jonathan Edwards quote:

"Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live."

Love those two quotes:
They'll probably be sticking with me for a little while. :)

I Need Thee Every Hour...

Lord, I need to seek You. Not people, not friends, not fun, not my own desires, but You.

I need you more than ever, and I know that I need to turn to You, but I really just don't feel like it half the time.
I need to spend time with You, time that I can use to know You, and then maybe, I can finally find rest and comfort with You. Rest and strength, and knowledge and peace, that I would not have any other way, can be found in You, and I know where to find You, but I just don't have the will-power to leave the other things behind.

Help me, Lord. Grant me the knowledge and the strength that I need in order to seek You with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my mind.

When I learn to put my trust in You, then all that I need and want will be found.

Lord, help me love You.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
-Galations 1:10