The Unique The Only One John 1:14 John 1:18 John 1:32-34 John 6:44-48 Colossians 1:15-20 Colossians 2:9 John 2:19-22 Philippians 2:1-11 06.29.18

THE UNIQUE THE ONLY ONE

BREAD

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.   John 1:14

(NIV)

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.   John 1:18 (NIV)

³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”  John 1:32-34 (NIV)

⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life.   John 6:44-48 (NIV)

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV)

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.  Colossians 2:9 (NIV)

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” ²⁰ The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.   John 2:19-22 (NIV)

¹ If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art.”  Charles Wesley

“Jesus Christ will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all.”   Augustine

“Our great honor lies in being just what Jesus was and is.”   A. W. Tozer

“You will always give effortlessly to that which is your salvation.”  Tim Keller

“There’s not a thumb’s breadth of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘It is mine.’”    Abraham Kuyper

“The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous event in human history.”  Malcolm Muggeridge

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”   C. T. Studd

“Jesus!  The Name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease.”   Charles Wesley

“Barbara, the world needs to see Jesus…As long as all they can see is you, they will never see Me.”   Barbara Barker

“We are changed by beholding.”  Hudson Taylor

“Most of us get up in the morning saying, ‘I am going to make something of my life, and I’ll follow Jesus too.’  But I just want you to know that we can’t have it both ways.  We have to have the formula right.  ‘Follow Me,’ Jesus said, ‘and as you follow Me, I will make something of your life.’”  Joseph Stowell, III

“…Jesus showed us what God really wants to cleanse and purify—our hearts. Christ’s transforming work on the cross helps us to break free from desires that hold us in bondage. As we submit to God, we become like Christ, no longer wanting to offend God. Out of gratitude we obey Him from the inside out.”  Tremper Longman

“When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.”  Charles Spurgeon

“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world.  It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender….God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.”  Dan Allender

“Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.”   Oswald Chambers

“The popular image of Christ as ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild’ simply will not do.  To be sure, He was full of love, compassion and tenderness.  But He was also uninhibited in exposing error and denouncing hypocrisy.  Christ was a controversialist.”     John Stott

“If religion is worth anything, it is worth everything.  They who do not like Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril.  Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this belief, that it is well worth what we give for it.  The terms are, that we prefer Christ.”   Matthew Henry

“Jesus promised His disciples three things:  that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.”   F.R. Maltby

“God does not honor men and women and their deeds or their books or their organizations.  The Father in heaven delights to honor His Son.  It is only the Life of the Lord Jesus - His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you - that ultimately will find the approval of God.”    Major Ian Thomas

“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.  If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’.  Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him.  Oh!  Let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.”     C. H. Spurgeon

“Jesus is the yes to every promise of God.”   William Barclay

“Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. Witness the Master taking a towel and washing His disciples' feet! Isn't it true to say that on earth He was always stripping off first one robe of honor and then another until, naked, He was fastened to the cross and emptied Himself, pouring out His lifeblood, giving it up for all of us, until they laid Him penniless in a borrowed grave?” C. H. Spurgeon

“Strive believer not to seek refuge in anything or anyone besides the Lord our God.  All else will surely be found wanting.  It is He Who is the Rock that is greater than all. It is He Who is sufficient to meet our every need.  It is He Who gives our feet a firm place to stand when the winds of life blow hard.  Look to Jesus alone – all else is fleeting.  Why go to the paste gem when the diamond is so readily offered?”   BHY

HEART SAVOR

• ·        Jesus begs the questions to everyone who follows Him:  “Do you love me?”  “Do you love me enough to follow Me, even if the circumstances are not of your choosing?”  “Do you trust me with your life?”  “Do you truly believe I have your best interest at heart?”  “Do you believe I truly love you?”  We are to ever be looking to the cross…
• ·        Jesus left all the glories of heaven for all people opening a way for us to come to Him by dying on the cross.  He deserves our all.  ²¹  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
• ·         Our greatest honor lies in following hard after Him. 

    

His Word Is Like Fire Jeremiah 23:28-29 Luke 24:30-35 Jeremiah 20:9 Psalms 39:2-3 Proverbs 30:5-6 Philippians 2:14-16 Psalms 18:12-15 Hebrews 4:12-13 Malachi 3:2-3 John 1:1-5 Hebrews 12:29 06.27.18

HIS WORD IS LIKE FIRE

BREAD

²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.  For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the LORD. ²⁹ “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”  Jeremiah 23:28-29 (NIV)

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” ³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”  ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.   Luke 24:30-35 (NIV)

⁹ But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 (NIV)

² But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. ³ My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.   Psalm 39:2-3 (NIV)

⁵ “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  ⁶ Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”  Proverbs 30:5-6 (NIV)

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶ as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.  Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV)

¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. ¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered [the enemies], great bolts of lightning and routed them.
¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.   Psalm 18:12-15 (NIV)

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)

² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.    Malachi 3:2-3 (NIV)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-5 (NIV)

²⁹  For our “God is a consuming fire.”  Hebrews 12:29 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Every sermon, every Bible lesson, every word of testimony, and every verse of Scripture is a warning, calling us to repentance and revival.  Our God is a consuming fire, and a day of judgment is coming.  We must not neglect the warning, and today’s church must not forget that our message includes the ministry of warning.”   Robert J. Morgan

“By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me.  The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green.  The whole world is charged with the glory of God, and I feel fire and music under my feet.”   Thomas Merton

“These ‘saints,’ as we sometimes call them, knew God in a way that I clearly did not.  They experienced Jesus as the defining reality of their lives.  They possessed a flaming vision of God that blinded them to all competing loyalties.  They experienced life built on the Rock.  It hardly mattered who I read in those days – Brother Lawrence, Tozer, Woolman – they knew God in ways far beyond anything I had ever experienced.  Or even wanted to experience!  But as I continued to soak in the stories of these women and men who were aflame with the fire of divine love, I began desiring this kind of life for myself.  And desiring led to seeking and seeking led to finding.  And what I found settled me, deepened me, thickened me.”   Richard J. Foster

“Immerse yourself in God’s Word, apply what you learn and He will fan into flames the fire of your passion which keeps you yearning for further still and creates within you a pure and clean heart and a steadfast spirit.  Nothing this life offers equal this.”  BHY

“Our claim is that God has revealed Himself by speaking; that this divine (or God-breathed) speech has been written down and preserved in Scripture; and that Scripture is, in fact, God’s Word written, which therefore is true and reliable and has divine authority over men.”   John Stott

“His Word cannot be falsified, disqualified, modified or nullified. His Word cannot be distorted or inverted or reinvented or demerited or interpreted away. His Word is beauty, it is wooing, and it will all be accomplished absolutely.  The debate of the day may change, the crisis may change, the screaming headlines of the genuinely horrifying may change — but, in the entire heaving cosmos, this remains unchangeable, unstoppable, undaunted: The Word of God. His Word is absolute and resolute and it will remain until time concludes.  God’s Word is more permanent than any words written in granite — or in headlines or campaign slogans or PR statements or press releases or laws.  Mountain rock is fleetingly temporary compared to the forever permanence of the Rock of His Word.  Culture cannot shape it and society cannot silence it and scarred people cannot help but be wooed by it, healed by it, held by it.  And the Lover of the letter, He soothes: ‘The mountains may pass away, but my truth will not pass away, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever, and though the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you.’”   Ann Voskamp

“Jesus is the Word made flesh and in Him is perfect peace – a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being.   Therefore, as His followers we are to encourage one another, in the midst of life’s chaos and storms, with the living and powerful Word of God.  As our Lord did, He spoke the Word and calmed the sea.  Just as it was true then, it is still true today – His Word calms and He can speak it even through a donkey.  His Word is alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.  It is able to divide soul and spirit, joint and marrow.  It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  It is not to be merely idle words for us as Moses told the Israelites, it is to be our life.  God’s Word is a balm for every needy soul – and truly, what soul isn’t needy?”   BHY  

“Heaven forbid that we should go on playing religious games in one corner when the cloud and fire of God’s presence have moved to another.”   David Watson

“Never fear the moments you imagine will freeze you: Unexpected blasts of cold can be what draws you nearer to the flame of His love.  Darn the cold. Thank God for the fire. Welcome to The Club of those are really alive.”   Ann Voskamp

“Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine; until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.”   Edwin Hatch

HEART SAVOR

• ·        God’s Word ignites the fire of passion in our hearts.  We are to be a conduit through which Truth flows to others.  We are not to keep it within ourselves or it will surely die out or at the very least dim.  It is Good News and it is meant to be shared - to hold out life that is truly life to others.  Sit, soak and you will sour.
• ·         Believer’s are to speak God’s Word faithfully.
• ·         Believer’s are to glow with His fire.

He Is The Great Redeemer Exodus 6:6-7 2 Samuel 7:22-24 Ruth 2:11-12 Psalms 34:22 Psalms 103:1-5 Ephesians 1:3-8 1 Peter 1:18-19 Colossians 1:9-14 Job 19:25-27 Psalms 44:26 06.25.18

HE IS THE GREAT REDEEMER

BREAD

⁶ “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.’”  Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)

²² “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. ²³ And who is like your people Israel--the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²⁴ You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God.” 2 Samuel 7:22-24 (NIV)  

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband--how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. ¹² May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”  Ruth 2:11-12 (NIV)

²² The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.  Psalm 34:22 (NIV)

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- ³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, ⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  Psalm 103:1-5 (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  Ephesians 1:3-8

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.   Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

²⁵ I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; ²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!  Job 19:25-27 (NIV)

²⁶ Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.  Psalm 44:26 (NIV)

BUTTER

“You know to what extent You have already changed me, You who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, so that You might forgive all my remaining iniquities, and heal my diseases, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and satisfy my desire with good things.”  St. Augustine 

“Redemption does not only look back to Calvary.  It looks forward to the freedom in which the redeemed stand.”   Leon Morris

“What if believing meant there’s no way you could stop telling the Good News because it’s more sensational than gossip that parades as news?  What if shying away from the word sin so as not to offend, offends a Holy God — and what if being culturally correct leads a whole generation a wrong shy of heaven? What if breaking this addiction of talking about problems could break new ground of talking about our Provider?  That we couldn’t stop sharing about how we’ve been saved, rescued, redeemed, revived?”   Ann Voskamp

“It becomes every person who purposes to give himself to the care of others, seriously to consider the four following things:  First, that he must one day give an account to the Supreme Judge of all the lives entrusted to his care.  Second, that all his skill and knowledge and energy, as they have been given him by God, so they should be exercised for His glory and the good of mankind, and not for mere gain or ambition. Third, and not more beautifully than truly, let him reflect that he has undertaken the care of no mean creature; for, in order that he may estimate the value, the greatness of the human race, the only begotten Son of God became himself a man, and thus ennobled it with His divine dignity, and far more than this, died to redeem it.  And fourth, that the doctor being himself a mortal human being, should be diligent and tender in relieving his suffering patients, inasmuch as he himself must one day be a like sufferer.”   Thomas Sydenham

“Living for Jesus, a life that is true.  Striving to please Him in all that I do.  Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free.  This is the pathway of blessing for me.  Living for Jesus Who died in my place, bearing on Calvary, my sin and disgrace.  Such love constrains me, to answer His call, follow His leading and give Him my all.  Living for Jesus, wherever I am.  Doing each duty in His holy name.  Willing to suffer affliction or loss.  Deeming each trial a part of my cross.  Living for Jesus, through earth’s little while, my dearest treasure, the light of His smile.  Seeking the lost ones, He died to redeem.  Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.”   Thomas O. Chisholm

“What we feed our minds and hearts on will determine whether we live a life of faith or a life of fear. …The more time we spend with God and His Word, the more our faith develops and our fear diminishes….Faith in God conquers fear every time. The God who has redeemed us and cares for us is trustworthy. Our Creator God will never abandon us, and He has our best interests at heart. ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging’(Psalm 46:1-3).”   Michael Youssef

“Precisely because they have been redeemed at such a cost, believers must be God’s men.”   Leon Morris

“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.  Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus, No language my rapture can tell; I know that the light of His presence With me doth continually dwell. I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long:  I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.  I know I shall see in His beauty The King in whose law I delight; Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, And giveth me songs in the night. I know there’s a crown that is waiting In yonder bright mansion for me, And soon, with the spirits made perfect, At home with the Lord I shall be.”  Frances J. Crosby

“In God's hands intended evil becomes eventual good.  Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph's heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. The torn robe became a royal one. The pit became a palace. The broken family grew old together. The very acts intended to destroy God's servant turned out to strengthen him.”   Max Lucado

“Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security.”  Elisabeth Elliot

HEART SAVOR

·         The God Who redeems, cares greatly.  His love constrains us to answer His call, follow His leading and give Him our all.

·         God is the Master of redeeming all things, making such beauty out of our ashes.

·         We are not our own, we have been bought with a high price.  We are therefore to honor God with our bodies.

He Knows Luke 22:7-13 Luke 22:20-23 Luke 22:31-34 Jeremiah 29:11 Ephesians 1:11 Isaiah 44:24-26 1 Samuel 2:3 Isaiah 46:10 Isaiah 45:21-22 06.22.18

HE KNOWS

BREAD

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
⁹ “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. ¹⁰ He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  ¹² He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” ¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.   Luke 22:7-13 (NIV)

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ²¹ But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²² The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.” ²³ They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.   Luke 22:20-23 (NIV)

³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
³³ But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Luke 22:31-34 (NIV)

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.   Ephesians 1:11 (NIV)

²⁴ “This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, ²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, ²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’”  Isaiah 44:24-26 (NIV)

³ “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.”  1 Samuel 2:3 (NIV)

¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.   Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)

²¹ Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. ²²  “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:21-22 (NIV)

BUTTER

“‘He knows the way He taketh,’ even if for the moment we do not.”  J.I. Packer

“His wisdom’s vast, and knows no bounds, a deep where all our thoughts are drowned.”  Isaac Watts

“God alone knows the depth and riches of His Godhead, and divine wisdom alone can declare His secrets.”   Thomas Aquinas

“Enough that God my Father knows:  Nothing this faith can dim.  He gives the very best to those who leave the choice with Him.”   Anonymous

“Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, ‘It is I, be not afraid.’ He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, ‘If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.’ ‘We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.’ The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, ‘Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children.’”   C. H. Spurgeon

“It is the prerogative of him who searches the heart, and knows what is in man, to pronounce who are hypocrites.   The eye of man can perceive open profaneness, but it is only the eye of Christ that can discern hypocrisy.  And as it is a sin which his eye discovers, so it is a sin which of all others his soul hates.”   Matthew Henry

“God knows all that is done in the most secret caverns of the heart.  No place is deprived of His presence.  Though reason and Scripture declare it, we cannot conceive it.  He is not measured by time nor limited by space.  He is from the height of the heavens to the bottom of the sea, and in every point of the world.”   Stephen Charnock

“Stop resisting Him.  Stop resenting Him.  Stop complaining.  Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Stop demanding what you want.  Stop focusing on the outer wrappings of yourself and your circumstances.  Adjust your attitude.  Change your mind about things, about yourself, about others and about Him.  Relax in total trust.  He knows what He’s doing.  Unwrap the package!  Let go and look up!  Let Him open the eyes of your heart.  Open your eyes!”   Anne Graham Lotz

“Just as there are always blessings to obedience, conversely there will always be consequences to sin.  Every sin carries with it a death sentence – death to trust, death to relationship, death to freedom, etc. etc.  We do not sin merely as unto ourselves either, sin’s tentacles are far reaching and devastating – like a ripple in the water when you cast in a stone.  We get to choose to sin or not but God chooses the consequence.  Just read about what happened to King David after his encounter with Bathsheba and how it affected the rest of his life.  God is severe in His judgments because He knows what sin does to a life and the lives of others.  This is not a winking, joking matter with Him.  It cost Him the life of His Son.  He doesn’t want us to go there (to say the least) – He has far greater, pleasing and perfect plans for us than that.  Also, it is all too important to note, that while a believer in Jesus is forgiven for sin that does not mean there will not be consequences.  Just saying….”  BHY

“Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life.  Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.”   Oswald Chambers

“A measureless God begins to upend our sense of personal awesomeness.”   Jen Wilken 

“Here’s what you need to know: God knows what you’re going through. He is thinking about you, and His thoughts are of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  The word future could be translated “an expected end.” You are a work in progress. And God isn’t done yet, you see. He is the author and finisher of your faith. There will be a completion. God is finishing you. And ultimately, it will be good.”   Greg Laurie

HEART SAVOR

• God knows me completely yet still loves me – as He does everyone.  His desire is for none to perish but all to come to repentance.
• While I see but a poor reflection, God sees all, knows all and always has my best interest at heart no matter how the circumstances appear to my eyes of flesh.  He is also a Master of making beauty from my ashes.   My job is to trust Him with my life and relinquish my will to His perfect and pleasing plans for my life.
• No place is deprived of His presence.