what to do?

Go forth and tell!
words by James E. Sneddon

Go forth and tell! O church of God awake!
God saving news to all the nations take.
Proclaim Christ Jesus, Saviour, Lord and King.
That all the world His worthy praise may sing.

Go forth and tell! God's love embraces all.
He will in grace respond to all who call.
How shall they call if they have never heard,
the gracious invitation of his word.

Go forth and tell! Some still in darkness lie.
In wealth or want, in sin they live and die.
Give us, O Lord, concern of heart and mind.
A love like yours which cares for all mankind.

Go forth and tell! The doors are open wide.
Share God's good gifts with people long denied.
Live out your life as Christ, your Lord, shall choose,
Your ransomed powers for His sole glory use.

forgiveness and suffering?

Forgiveness is a form of suffering - when I forgive I have not only suffered the offense but also released or suppressed the rightful claims of strict retributive justice in favour of a costly redemptive justice.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1963

a new affection...

There is not one personal transformation in which the heart is left without an object of ultimate beauty and joy. The heart's desire for one particular object can be conquered, but it's desire to have some object is unconquerable. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.
Thomas Chalmers, 18th century Scottish Presbyterian

Have you ever found something that not only grasps your mind but also rivets and captures your heart?

when in times of trouble...

¹² Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³ You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You split open springs and brooks;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷ You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
Psalm 74:12-17

When there seems little hope, it is most important for individual believers to recall the power of God both in creation (74:16-17) and in redemption (74:13-15). How should such a stance work out in our lives?

to have and to hold...

I’ve held many things in my hand, and I’ve lost them all, but whatever I’ve placed in His hands, I still possess.
Martin Luther

the grace of God...

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Robert Robinson, 1757

with or without...

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
Amy Carmichael

the cover and the title page...

And as for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

C. S. Lewis, 'The Last Battle' (1956, p184)

contentment...

Lord, it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad,
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad
To welcome endless day?

Ri­chard Bax­ter (1615-91)

seeing God bigger...

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you’re bigger."
"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow older, you find me bigger."

C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia

all i need...

Lead me to the cross
Words: Graham Kendrick

How can I be free from sin?
Lead me to the cross of Jesus
From the guilt, the power, the pain?
Lead me to the cross of Jesus

There's no other way
No price that I could pay
Simply to the cross I cling
This is all I need
This is all I plead
That his blood was shed for me

How can I know peace within?
Lead me to the cross of Jesus
Sing a song of joy again!
Lead me to the cross of Jesus

Flowing from above
All-forgiving love
From the Father's heart to me!
What a gift of grace
His own righteousness
Clothing me in purity!

How can I live day by day?
Lead me to the cross of Jesus
Following his narrow way?
Lead me to the cross of Jesus

one day...

What will you do with Jesus,
Neutral you can not be,
One day your heart will be asking,
What will He do with me.
C. S. Lewis

make me thy fuel...

Make me Thy fuel
by Amy Carmichael

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from wind that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
The soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified),
From all the dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.


Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire.
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.