Christmas lights

すべての人を照らすそのまことの光が世に来ようとしていた。
ヨハネの福音書第１章９

The true light that gives light to all people has come into the world
John chapter 1, verse 9

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

cause and effect...

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:13

Be killing sin or it will be killing you.
John Owen

something to write in my bible: This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.

summing it up...

You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.
J.I. Packer, Knowing God

leave home...

Consider the call from the Throne above, Go ye, and from round about, Come over and help us, and even the call from the damned souls below, 'Send Lazarus to my brothers, that they come not to this place'. Impelled, then, by these voices, I dare not stay home while [the Quichia Indians] perish. So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bankbooks and in the dust on their Bible covers.
Jim Elliot, from his journals (Shadow of the Almighty)

Teach me Thy way, O Lord

Teach me Thy way, O Lord
By Benjamin Ramsey

Teach me Thy way, O Lord,
Teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford
Teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright,
More by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav'nly light,
Teach me Thy way!

When I am sad at heart,
Teach me Thy way!
When earthly joys depart,
Teach me Thy way!
In hours of loneliness,
In times of dire distress,
In failure or success,
Teach me Thy way!

When doubts and fears arise,
Teach me Thy way!
When storms o'erspread the skies,
Teach me Thy way!
Shine thro'the cloud and rain,
Thro' sorrow, toil and pain;
Make Thou my pathway plain,
Teach me Thy way!

Long as my life shall last,
Teach me Thy way!
Where'er my lot be cast,
Teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run,
Until the journey's done,
Until the crown is won,
Teach me Thy way!

the right prescription...

If pain afflict or wrongs oppress,
If cares distract, or fears dismay;
If guilt deject, or sin distress,
The remedy's before you: Pray
Joseph Hart

God gives more grace...

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."
James 4:6

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more grace when the labours increase. To added inflictions, he addeth His mercy. Multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. When we have exhausted our store of endurance. When our strength has failed, ‘ere the day has half done; when we reach the end of our horded resources, our Father’s forgiving is only begun. His love has no limits. His Grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
Annie Flint

do you want to...

To grasp how wide and long and high and deep
This love of Christ, experience it when
Mere knowledge bursts its categories, then
Escape the fragile flame of language, reap
The richest crop salvation brings, and heap
Up memories of a sea of love, again
Yet again cascading o'er us---men
Can know no other bliss so rich and deep.

Lord God, in love you have established us,
And rooted us in soil no less fine:
Not single plants exposed to every gust
Of wind, but all the saints drink love sublime.

Make me to know---a creature hewn from sod---
The measure of all fullness found in God.
Don Carson, Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century

prayer: what difference does it make?

One of the constitutional enforcements of the gospel is prayer. Without prayer, the gospel can neither be preached effectively, promulgated faithfully, experienced in the heart, nor be practiced in life. And for the very simple reason that by leaving prayer out of the catalogue of the religious duties, we leave God out, and His work cannot progress without Him.
E.M. Bounds

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
Words: Anonymous

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my heart to seek him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found by Thee.

Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;
'Twas not so much that I on thee took hold,
As Yhou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole
Of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee;
For Thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
Always Thou lovedst me.

divine humility...

It is hardly complimentary to God that we should choose him as an alternative to hell. Yet even this he accepts...

... it is a poor thing to strike our colours to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up "our own" when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him, and come to Him because there is "nothing better" now to be had
C. S. Lewis

prayer

What is prayer and what does it take to pray?

Matthew 6:5-8
The Lord's Prayer

⁵ "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
⁷ "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (ESV)

Don't do it to look good. Be genuine in your prayer.

Matthew 5:44
⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (ESV)

Pray for your enemies.

Ephesians 6:18
¹⁸praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, . (ESV)

Pray about anything.

Philippians 4:6
⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (ESV)

Pray when you are anxious about something.

1 Thessalonians 5:17
¹⁷pray without ceasing, (ESV)

Do it regularly.


How does someone pray?
Jesus has given us a model of how we should pray. This model is called the 'Lord's Prayer'.

Matthew 6:9-13
⁹ Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come,
your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,
¹² and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. (ESV)

Some things Jesus tells us to pray:

verse 9: Address God as 'Father' and praise his name.
verse 10: That God's will be done.
verse 11: Provision of what we need
verse 12: Forgiveness for us and help to forgive others
verse 13: Protection from temptation and the evil one.


This is a summary of the Lord's Prayer:
Give thanks to God for who he is and what he has done.
Pray for the needs of others.
Pray for your needs.


Putting it into practise
Think about meeting with one or two other people to pray together.
Think about writing down your prayer requests in a book so you can remember what to pray for and also see how God answers each prayer over time.

pondering...

Either the Bible will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you away from the Bible I am convinced that a downgrading in priority of... prayer and biblical meditation is a major cause of weakness in many Christian communities... Bible study demands pondering deeply on a short passage, like a cow chewing her cud. It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to read a lot and ponder a little.
Denis Parsons Burkitt

i love the sound of you walking away...

Along the Road
Words: Robert Browning Hamilton

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me!

though there's pain in the offering...

I am afraid that all the grace I have gotten out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I received from my sorrows and pains and griefs is altogether incalculable. What do I not owe to the hammer and the anvil, the fire and the file?
Charles Spurgeon

the best place to be...

In Christ Alone
Words: Stuart Townend Music: Keith Getty

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song,
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine —
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

a short prayer...

Our Heavenly Father, we pray that You would help us to see You clearly, to love You dearly, and to follow You nearly. And we pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

hope...

In Heavenly Love Abiding

In heavenly love abiding, no change my heart shall fear.
And safe in such confiding, for nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me, my heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me, and can I be dismayed?

Wherever He may guide me, no want shall turn me back.
My Shepherd is beside me, and nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waking, His sight is never dim.
He knows the way He’s taking, and I will walk with Him

Green pastures are before me, which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be over me, where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure, my path to life is free.
My Savior has my treasure, and He will walk with me.

Anna Laetitia Waring (1823-1910)

what great commission?

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.
J. Hudson Taylor, founder of OMF International

exhale...

The Light and Glory of the Word

The Spirit breathes upon the word,
And brings the truth to sight;
Precepts and promises afford
A sanctifying light.

A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic like the sun;
It gives a light to every age,
It gives, but borrows none.

The hand that gave it still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
His truths upon the nations rise,
They rise, but never set.

Let everlasting thanks be thine,
For such a bright display,
As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.

My soul rejoices to pursue
The steps of Him I love,
Till glory break upon my view
In brighter worlds above.

Without the Holy Spirit of God, you would never have come to conviction of your sin. Without the Holy Spirit of God, we would not have a Bible. Without the Holy Spirit of God, you would not understand the Bible. God means for you to be a lover of his word, he has given us this word, and he has given us the same Holy Spirit who is the author of this word to help us understand it.
David Cook, Starting Strong, Staying Strong p.58

audience of one...

In working out our callings, we are to perform for one audience, the audience of One.
Os Guinness

guard the good deposit...

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent...
John Calvin

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
2 Timothy 1:14

I don't know why. I can't tell you why.

But this I know, that he was born of Mary.

I know he lived and walked and talked and laboured.

I know he heals the broken-hearted,
I know he forgives our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
I know all flesh shall see his glory,
and he shall reap the harvest he has sown...

I cannot tell you lots of things. But this I know.


I cannot tell
by William Young Fullerton (1857-1932), 1929

I cannot tell how he whom angels worship
should stoop to love the peoples of the earth,
or why as shepherd he should seek the wanderer
with his mysterious promise of new birth.
But this I know, that he was born of Mary,
when Bethlehem's manger was his only home,
and that he lived at Nazareth and labored,
and so the Savior, Savior of the world, is come.

I cannot tell how silently he suffered,
as with his peace he graced this place of tears,
or how his heart upon the cross was broken,
the crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, he heals the broken-hearted,
and stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
and lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
for yet the Savior, Savior of the world, is here.

I cannot tell how he will win the nations,
how he will claim his earthly heritage,
how satisfy the needs and aspirations
of east and west, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see his glory,
and he shall reap the harvest he has sown,
and some glad day his sun shall shine in splendor
when he the Savior, Savior of the world, is known.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,
when, at his bidding, every storm is stilled,
or who can say how great the jubilation
when every heart with perfect love is filled.
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
and myriad, myriad human voices sing,
and earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, will answer:
'At last the Savior, Savior of the world, is King!'

walking the plank... and surviving

Someone has said that strong faith in a weak plank will land you in the river, but weak faith in a strong plank will get you across.
Paul Little, How to Give Away Your Faith, IVP, 2nd Edition, 1988, p192

The important thing about faith is its focus. The focus of our faith is the unique Son, in unique relationship with the Father, in the unique place with the Father, who uniquely reveals the Father and makes him known. Every thought I have of God that is inconsistent with Jesus is wrong.

for when i am weak..

This one man, frail in body and of no unusual intellectual powers, called into being a missionary which, consecrated to one great task, the giving of the Faith to all Chinese who had never heard it, was to bear witness to the Gospel in every inland province in China
Latourette, A history of Christian Missions in China

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10

teach me your ways..

The place of suffering in service and of passion in mission is hardly ever taught today. But the greatest single secret of evangelistic or missionary effectiveness is the willingness to suffer and die. It may be a death to popularity (by faithfully preaching the unpopular biblical gospel), or to pride (by the use of modest methods in reliance on the Holy Spirit), or to racial and national prejudice (by identification with another culture), or to material comfort (by adopting a simple lifestyle). But the servant must suffer if he is to bring light to the nations, and the seed must die if it is to multiply.
John Stott

eyes open..

Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus
By Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

motion picture message

That is the message we need to press home to our friends and to our impressionable kids. They need to know that everyone embraces one philosophy or another-a worldview that defines his or her conception of the world, of reality, and of human life. These beliefs are woven into movies-often in subtle ways that viewers miss. That is why it's so important that we teach our kids how to find the worldview message in every film.
Chuck Colson

let's talk about..

When you speak of Heaven, let your face light up, let it be irradiated with a heavenly gleam, let your eyes shine with reflected glory. But when you speak of Hell—well, then your ordinary face will do.
Charles Spurgeon

and you give yourself away..

If you could finish this sentence, how you would finish it, 'The greatest thing that God can give to me is...' how would you finish that?

The Biblical answer – the most wonderful and real answer – is this: the greatest thing that God can give to us is Himself.

On the Day of Pentecost, we are reminded that God, who gave His Son, whom we did not deserve, now gives His Holy Spirit to the receiver and the believer, in order that he or she might live in the family of God, forever with God, at the expense of God.
Simon Manchester

God rules, OK?

People say about a great event, "What a providence" but they miss what they think is the less important event. My brothers, the moss on a hill is as fixed as the castle of a king; and the dust in the air is as steered by God as the planets in their orbit. There is as much providence in the creeping of a bug on a leaf as the march of an army to ravage a continent. Everything – the most minute as well as the most magnificent – is ordered by the Lord, whose Kingdom rules over all. No-one even sleeps or wakes, except by the decree of the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon

God, the Father, knows exactly what He is doing. He is working all things, not some things, but all things for His good, for our good. And our part is to seek His Will and to do it with all our heart

meant to live..

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.
Woodrow Wilson

we break easy..

Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart.
Bob Pierce, World Vision Founder

lost..

Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us.
Keith Wright

the day you come..

We talk of the second coming, half of the world has never heard of the first.
Oswald J. Smith.

got faith?

Faith is a living deliberate confidence in the grace of God, so certain that for it one could die a thousand deaths, and such confidence . . . makes us joyous, intrepid, and cheerful towards God and all creation.
Martin Luther

what a profound insight..

this is the new year..

Happy New Year!

kicking, screaming gucci little piggy..
2007 is the year of the boar.