Seek ye first...

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Man shall not live by bread alone
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

If the Son shall set you free
Ye shall be free indeed
Ye shall know the truth, and it shall set you free
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Let your light so shine before men that they may see
Your good works and glorify
Your Father in heaven
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
He shall direct thy paths
In all thy ways acknowledge Him
Hallelu, Hallelujah

Words and Music by Karen Lafferty

my happiness..

this thought made great sense to John Piper..

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others advoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hand themselves.

Blaise Pascal

it is the law of the human heart, as gravity is a law of nature..

Pascal goes on to say:

There once was in man a true happiness of which now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he is vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinitive and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.

better be home soon..

a nice heartwarming story worth hearing again..

it concerns a lady, apparently in Brazil, whose daughter ran away from home to the big city of Rio. The mother had pleaded with her not to go, but the daughter ran away anyway, and ended up with the mother’s worst fears — as a prostitute. The mother sold almost everything she had, and paid for fares to go into the city and to go around, looking for her daughter. She took hundreds of photos of herself in the photo booths, and she stuck them up on the walls, on the posts, on the bathroom mirrors, and every sleazy part of town. The girl, of course, had been too ashamed to return, but one day, when she was coming down the stairs of her flat, she saw one of the photos on the noticeboard. She took the photo off and she saw that her mother had written on the back (and probably on the back of every photo), "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it does not matter. Please come home."

That's really the message of Luke 15. God, the Father, says to the world, in a sense, "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t really matter. Please come home."

there is a light that never goes out..

‘As regards the great momentous questions of how to live, how to be clean, how to be straight, how to be pure, there is gross darkness in the world. As you come up the scale, and look at relationships between group and group, there is obviously the same conditions, and we have these great industrial and economic problems. On a still higher level, look at the relationships between nation and nation. This 20th Century, of all centuries, when we talk so much about our knowledge and enlightenment, is proving that the world is in a state of unutterable darkness with regard to the vital and fundamental problems...’

‘...You can turn to the greatest philosophers and thinkers, and again and again, you will find that they will never take you beyond analysis. They are very good at laying out the problem and showing you the various factors which operate, but when you ask them what is ultimately responsible for this, and what they propose to do, they leave you unanswered. Clearly they have nothing to say. There is obviously no light at all in this world, apart from the light that is provided by Christian people, and the Christian faith. That is no exaggeration. I am suggesting that if you want to be realistic, we just have to face that and realise that when our Lord spoke nearly 2,000 years ago, He not only spoke the simple startling truth about His own age, but He spoke the truth with regard to every age.’

Martin Lloyd-Jones

The problem isn't in Iraq or North Korea.. the problem is actually in here, in my heart and yours, that’s where war comes from —- one-to-one, family-to-family, city-to-city, country-to-country… and the solution is with Christ.

Absolute rule. Constant care.

Jerry Bridges in his book 'Trusting God' defines the sovereignty of God:

"[it is] God's absolute rule over and constant care for all his creation to his glory and the good of his people."

Jerry Bridges

In other words, if you know that God takes up everything, he takes every cell, every word, every decision, every disappointment, every loss, every phone call, every set back and every influence on us, whether its our upbringing or education, or whether its an injury that we'd received, or reward we've been given, a success, a disaster... it's all under control.

Nothing gets outside of His control and he works for it for his Glory and for the good of us.. and this brings us deep peace.

our greatest need?

"If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a saviour."

DA Carson

where is my mind?

Been meditating on the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-12) recently.. ie. this morning. found these questions confronting but helpful:

Have you settled in your mind, that, unlike the world, you will (and are prepared to) lose many temporary pleasures, in order to be faithful, trustworthy, with greater and eternal things?

Have you settled in your mind that you just won’t get to visit all the great sites of the world? And you’ll pay that price, because you know that Heaven is better. If you don’t, or can’t think like this, is it because you are trying to serve two masters, and God is really getting the leftovers?

Have you adjusted your giving as your income has changed? Or do you still have a standard offertory that is really a bit of an insult, and not gratitude at all? That’s a good question.

Do you think that God may have entrusted huge riches to this Church for a critical time, and that we really could and should be great stewards for the Kingdom?

Do you spend anything for the gospel like what you spend on holidays and houses?

Who in the Church is going to show the lead on being shrewd?

Simon Manchester

give it away give it away give it away now..

Realize I don’t want to be a miser
Confide wisely you’ll be the wiser
Young blood is the lovin’ upriser
How come everybody wanna keep it like the kaiser

Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now

Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Give it away now

such a good song.. for some bizarre reason(?) it reminds me of the famous words of a Christian missionary to Ecuador, where he was killed by Huaorani Indians:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot

a day in the life..

One day Spurgeon was preaching in Edinburgh, and after he’d finished, a military officer came up and shook his hand, and the military officer (this is back in the 1800s, soon after the Crimean War) came up and said to him, “For twenty years, I’ve served Her Majesty, but as for today, I’m enlisted in the army of the King of Kings.” And Spurgeon said, as this officer walked away, “There was a man who had not turned his back in the day of battle, and was no longer turning his back on the King of Kings.”

It’s a very wonderful thing to put yourself into the hands of Jesus Christ, and to begin a new life, with new resources, and not be ashamed or overcome or overwhelmed, because He will carry you through.