Anguished Prayers Jonah 2:1-9 Psalms 142:1-7 Psalms 18:4-6 Exodus 32:11-14 2 Chronicles 20:10-15 Luke 22:39-46 11.30.18

ANGUISHED PRAYERS

BREAD

¹ From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. ² He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. ³ You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. ⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ ⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. ⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. ⁷ When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. ⁸ Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. ⁹ But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.”  Jonah 2:1-9 (NIV)

¹ I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. ² I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. ³ When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. ⁴ Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. ⁵ I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”  ⁶ Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. ⁷ Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.  Psalm 142:1-7 (NIV)

⁴ The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. ⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. ⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. Psalm 18:4-6 (NIV)
    

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “O LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’”  ¹⁴ Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.  Exodus 32:11-14 (NIV)

¹⁰ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹ See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” ¹³ All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. ¹⁵ He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:10-15 (NIV)

³⁹ Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. ⁴⁵ When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”   Luke 22:39-46 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Has the Lord ever answered your prayers, and it felt like an UPHEAVAL of the situation, leaving butterflies in your stomach because you just experienced God Almighty at work? The enemy wants us to believe that our God is weak and unable or unwilling to do anything. If we could only fathom the depth of His love for us, how He is able to do more than we could ever DREAM and that that power works and resides in us. Take heart and be encouraged!”  Anonymous

“Our cries to the Lord — are what give us communion with the Lord.  It’s the dire distress that drives us into the deep devotion.  It’s when all fails, His love never fails — and this is why we are a people who can always give thanks.”   Ann Voskamp

“When we are deluded and deceived by Satan, when we feel worthless and helpless, may God open our eyes and help us to see Christ and His Righteousness.  May we know that He died for us and remember that we are precious in God’s sight.  May we turn from our sinful ways and follow Him. And may we know in our hearts, and experience in every area of our lives, the great power of prayer.  May God revive and encourage our hearts and souls, every one of them.”  Roger Killian 

“Show the world that thy God is worth ten thousand worlds to thee…..Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord thy God shall certainly, as surely as He built the heavens and the earth, glorify Himself in thy weakness, and magnify His might in the midst of thy distress.  The grandeur of the arch of heaven would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye.”   Charles H. Spurgeon 

¹⁸ “‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.’ Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)  We are to live into this Truth.  Just because I do not see something happening out of my poor visibility due to my human earth-bound eye, does not mean it is not happening.  Just because I cannot see God’s work does not mean He is not working – God is always at work.  I am to sign all my prayers with anticipatory thanksgiving – thanking Him in advance and closing with ‘I am very truly yours, always’ is a constant reminder to me of Whom I belong to.  It is God alone.  It is He Who sends the great “showers of blessings”.”  BHY 

“Prayers are not wishes; prayers are conversations. God does not grant but God gives, God is not summoned, but God speaks.  There is no one right way to speak to God, no guarantee of answers or outcomes, but the words themselves will take on life as they leave your lips, they will find their way to Jesus, they will be heard.  Walking out onto the water, where the firm ground gives way, we can find Jesus.  And meeting Jesus, Who rises with His scars to proclaim new life, is never what you once imagined.”   Hilary Yancey

“Three things helped me as we went through, and continue to go through, crisis: prayer, the Word of God, and the encouragement of fellow believers.”  Greg Laurie

“Suffering should elicit prayer. Sufficiency should elicit praise.”  The Bible Knowledge Commentary

“God is not challenged by your sin or difficult circumstances. Prayer is the avenue He uses to restore your soul and to prepare you to live the life He has given you. Therefore, pray, knowing that when you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you.”  Michael Youssef

“Inauspiciously, a prayer meeting in Antioch in Acts 13:1-3 became one of the most important moments in the history of the world. With their prayers and fasting, the church leaders said, God, we want your provision, not our small plans. We want your abundance, not our small-mindedness. We want more than we know how to ask, more than we can think, more than we could expect, more than we can dream. We want you, God. We’re not satisfied with abilities and experience and what we can plan on our own and do apart from you. We want you and your leading. We don’t want to lean on our own understanding.”  David Mathis 

“Life has many dungeon cells, and stone walls, to hinder our joy and fruitfulness. Some of them are meant to fall down in five years. Others in five seconds. Whether it is the patient endurance to press on with joy, or the breakthrough in the twinkling of an eye, God has appointed prayer as the key.”  John Piper

“Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death, will not the internal corruptions and the external snares, will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of ‘he has said’?”  Charles H. Spurgeon 

HEART SAVOR

·       Prayer is the key.  In every situation God allows in a life, prayer with petition and thanksgiving is always, always the key.  Never, never neglect it.  We do so to our own harm.

• ¹⁶  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV)

·      Our Lord tells us to pray so that we will not fall into temptation – whatever the circumstances – remember the body may be willing but the flesh is ever so weak.

Habits Can Make Or Break Mark 1:35 Revelation 1:9-11 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 Colossians 4:12-13 Proverbs 31:25-27 Proverbs 24:30-34 Ecclesiastes 10:18 Song of Songs 2:15 Jeremiah 8:10-12 Jeremiah 9:12-14 Jeremiah 22:14-16 Ephesians 5:15-17 11.28.18

HABITS CAN MAKE OR BREAK

BREAD

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  Mark 1:35 (NIV)

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Revelation 1:9-11 (NIV)

²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.  1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (NIV)

¹² Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. ¹³ I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.   Colossians 4:12-13 (NIV)

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. ²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. ²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.   Proverbs 31:25-27 (NIV)

³⁰ I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
³¹ thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. ³² I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- ³⁴ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.   Proverbs 24:30-34 (NIV)

¹⁸ If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.  Ecclesiastes 10:18 (NIV)

¹⁵ Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.  Song of Songs 2:15 (NIV)

¹⁰ From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. ¹¹ They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. ¹² Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.   Jeremiah 8:10-12 (NIV)

¹² What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? ¹³ The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. ¹⁴ Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” Jeremiah 9:12-14 (NIV)

  
¹⁴ “He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.’ So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red. ¹⁵ Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. ¹⁶ He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 22:14-16 (NIV)

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.  Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Vigilance is an essential component to the spiritual discipline of watchfulness. To be vigilant is to be on guard. The sentinel of a city is vigilant. He watches for the approach of the enemy. Warriors are vigilant. They’re watchful and wary of their antagonist’s every move. People become vigilant when they realize they’re in jeopardy. As soldiers of the cross, we are surrounded by enemies.  Watchfulness, therefore, is as necessary to a healthy spiritual life as meditation and prayer. Jesus tells his disciples to ‘watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation’ (Matthew 26:41). The letters of Paul, Peter, and John sound the same note, urging us to exercise moral vigilance and watchful prayer (1 Corinthians 16:13; Galatians 6:1; Colossians 4:2; 1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 John 8). And Hebrews commands mutual watchfulness and exhortation while also reminding us to obey those leaders who keep watch over our souls (Hebrews 3:12; 13-17).  Yet despite this biblical emphasis, watchfulness is one practice that rarely gets mentioned in contemporary manuals of spiritual disciplines. Watchfulness is the whetstone of the spiritual disciplines, the one practice that keeps the other habits sharp. This requires the cultivation of self-examination, where we take regular inventory of our personal tendencies towards particular sins, what the Puritan Isaac Ambrose called “Delilah sins.” Delilah sins, like Samson’s Philistine mistress, like to sit on our laps and whisper sweet nothings in our ears, but they will betray us to our foes in a heartbeat and cut off our moral strength. These are the specific sin patterns we’ve cultivated through willful and habitual sin. Like deep ruts that furrow a muddy road, these vices are etched into our lives through daily routines, self-justifying rationalization, and continual repetition. The discipline of watching is like a home security system.”  Excerpt from Watchfulness:  Recovering a Lost Spiritual Discipline (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018)

“Habits are to the soul what veins are to the blood. The very course of our life depends on them. Random acts of greatness pale in comparison to habitual acts of faithfulness.”   Ann Voskamp

“Change your habits, change your life.  We only have one life to live – don’t waste it.”  BHY

“The majority of children acquire the characteristics and habits of their parents.  What are they learning from us?”  Billy Graham

“The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of complete laziness. A little folding of the hands to rest is all they desire, and they have a host of reasons to show that this indulgence is entirely legitimate. Yet by these "littles" the day runs out, and the time for work is all gone, and the field is overgrown with thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They do not intend to delay for years—a few months, they say, will bring the more convenient season—tomorrow they will attend to serious things; but the present hour is so occupied and so unsuitable that they beg to be excused.  Like sands from an hourglass, time passes; life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to catch the fleeting hour, to use the passing moments! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, because otherwise a poverty of the worst kind awaits us—eternal poverty that will want even a drop of water and beg for it in vain. Like a robber steadily pursuing his victim, poverty overtakes the lazy, and ruin overthrows the undecided: Each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he doesn't pause on the way, for he is on his master's business and must not delay. As an armed man enters with authority and power, in similar fashion want will come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape.  O that men would become wise and would diligently seek the Lord Jesus, before the solemn day will dawn when it will be too late to plow and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is useless to lament that the seedtime was neglected. As of now, there is still time for faith and holy decision.”  C. H. Spurgeon

“What are believers saved from?  From their former position under the wrath of God, the dominion of sin, and the power of death; from their natural condition of being mastered by the world, the flesh and the devil; from the fears that a sinful life engenders, and from the many vicious habits that were part of it.  How are believers saved from these things?  Through Christ, and in Christ.  Our salvation involves first, Christ dying for us and second, Christ living in us and we living in Christ, united with Him in His death and risen life.  This vital union, which is sustained by the Spirit from the divine side and by faith from our side, and which is formed in and through our new birth, presupposes covenantal union in the sense of our eternal election in Christ.”   J I Packer

“Habits matter because: Habits are the spine of our self-control. You change your life when you change what you do every day.”   Ann Voskamp

 “Hear the prayers of Your people as we call out to You. Give us self-control on those occasions when we're tempted to demoralize and put people down. Make us aware that a godly life preaches an unforgettable message to the unsaved. Help us remember that we're soldiers away from our home in heaven, living in a culture that's lost its way and is in desperate need of Jesus Christ. Keep us easy to live with, strong in faith, unbending in our convictions yet full of grace toward those who are bound by sin and captured by habits they cannot break. Enable us to shock this pagan culture with lives that are authentic, that stay balanced, that are still fun, and that ultimately glorify You, O God . . . just like Jesus did.”   Chuck Swindoll

“He makes it a habit to hope. Even in the middle, even when you have to begin again.  Change your habits and you can change anything into a possibility. The patterns of our lives reveal the form of our souls.  Read more words on papers than on screens.  A pail with a pinhole loses as much as the pail pushed right over.  A whole life can be lost in minutes wasted… in the small moments missed.  Make gratitude your attitude of habit — there’s no other way to make joy your life.   Every little day just has to be just a little bit better: Small things done consistently, consistently make the biggest change.”   Ann Voskamp

HEART SAVOR

• ·         Watch who you follow – take your actions to the Word – what does God say?  Is this a pursuit of holiness?   A pursuit of Christlikeness?  ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.   1 John 2:6 (NIV)
• ·         Nothing good ever comes from sin, nothing.  Watch your life and doctrine closely.
• ·         Little foxes (habits) can ruin your vineyard (life).

Love Lifted Me 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 John 3:16-17 Psalms 18:16 Psalms 40:1-3 1 John 4:9-11 1 John 4:18 Psalms 116:1-9 Romans 8:35-39 Matthew 22:36-40 11.26.18

LOVE LIFTED ME

BREAD

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16-17 (NIV)

¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. Psalm 18:16 (NIV)

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.  Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)

⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  1 John 4:9-11 (NIV)

¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  1 John 4:18 (NIV)

¹ I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. ² Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. ³ The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” ⁵ The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. ⁶ The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. ⁷ Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.  ⁸ For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, ⁹ that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.  Psalm 116:1-9 (NIV)

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Christmas, the Story of God becoming the Man, Jesus, is the only hope we have of returning back to God. We must lean into the truth of God’s love displayed in Jesus’ coming. Our fall into depravity and alienation was because our confidence in the kindness and love of God was shaken. We doubted and doubt the love of God. Our recovery must begin with the belief of His love; ‘this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (I Jn. 4:10).  Dr. Tom Wood

“All God’s love and the fruits of it come to us as we are in Christ, and are one with Him.”    Richard Sibbes

“You never touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.”    Corrie ten Boom

“God’s love is always supernatural, always a miracle, always the last thing we deserve.”   Robert Horn

“Often hell is portrayed as a place of punishment and heaven as a place of reward. But this concept easily leads us to think about God as either a policeman, who tries to catch us when we make a mistake and send us to prison when our mistakes become too big, or a Santa Claus, who counts up all our good deeds and puts a reward in our stocking at the end of the year.  God, however, is neither a policeman nor a Santa Claus. God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying ourselves. Hell is not God's choice. It is ours.”   Henri Nouwen

“Many people have difficulty believing God is a God of love….If you really want to know the reality of God’s love, look at the Cross….It was love that restrained Him when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and led to Golgotha to die with common thieves.  He raised not a hand against His enemies.  It was love that kept Him from calling legions of angels to come to His defense.  It was love that made Him, in a moment of agonizing pain, pause and give hope to a repentant sinner who cried, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42)….Does God love us?  Yes….and the proof is the Cross.”   Billy Graham  

 

“Jesus modeled for us the proper balance. He walked among the worldly without becoming like them. He mingled with sinners but He never sinned. He showed them God’s love and spoke the Truth without compromise. Even when He faced betrayal and torture and an excruciating death, Jesus stood for Truth because He knew the eternal significance of His sacrifices.”   Michael Youssef

“We all know the value of joy.  It alone is the proof that what we have really satisfies the heart.  Just this makes gladness such a mighty element in the Christian character:  there is no proof of the reality of God’s love and the blessing He bestows, which men so soon feel the force of, as when the joy of God overcomes all the trials of life.  And for the Christian’s own welfare, joy is no less indispensable:  the joy of the Lord is his strength; confidence, and courage, and patience finds their inspiration in joy.  With a heart full of joy no work can weary, and no burden can depress; God Himself is strength and song.”   Andrew Murray   

“There is something contagious about a heart of love. People who are selfless with their love can make giant waves in this world where those who cling to selfish desires cause only ripples. In fact, those who have hearts of love view the people around them as being most important. A heart that bears the marks of God’s intimate love is not a selfish heart. When we look directly into God’s heart of love, we are transformed forever. The selfish desires that once dominated our heart’s landscapes vanish in an instant, replaced by a desire to lavish love on others. As God begins to transform our hearts through His grace and kindness, we become vessels willing to reciprocate this type of love. Something happens inside of us. We begin to realize the twofold effect of loving God and loving others - not just friends and family, but others who cross our paths every day. Hardened hearts begin to melt beneath the warmth of Christ’s love overflowing from our lives. People who we never thought would let the name of Jesus roll off their lips suddenly praise Him because we have taken the time to love them the way God has commanded us to love. Once we learn how to abide in His love, our feelings of jealousy, greed, and anger die a quick death. A true champion extends grace and kindness because he knows the transformation that has taken place in his own heart, and he realizes those who receive God’s love and grace have no other course of action but to give God’s love away.”   Michael Youssef

“There is a difference between brokenness over one’s sin and living in shame for the rest of our days.  A broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise.  This means one agrees with the Lord that the sin was wrong and desires not to continue on in it.  It is a turning from it into the ways of the Lord through His power, for His glory, for our good.  This leads to peace with God which passes all understanding not continued shame over the transgression.  Guilt is Satan’s trademark and often keeps the forgiven believer paralyzed in their walk with the Lord believing themselves to be unworthy to be used in kingdom work or even approach the throne of grace through prayer.  If Satan can’t keep us from being saved, he desires to keep us from being used and from feeling the comfort of God’s love and forgiveness.  Believers are accepted in the Beloved.”   BHY

“But when I think of him (Billy Graham) I also think of his message because he was immersed in it.  Saturated in it.  He was his message…a simple man who had responded to God’s love by placing his faith in Jesus, receiving the assurance that his sins were forgiven, that he would not perish, but would have everlasting life.  Simple faith.  Faith that now matters more than anything else.  For years, over his head as he preached was the banner that quoted the words of Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  Jesus completed that sentence by saying that “No one comes to the Father but by Me.”   Based on what Jesus said, Daddy is safely with the Father.  In heaven.  Daddy not only claimed Jesus as the only Way to God, he lived by the Truth publicly on platforms and privately behind closed doors and is now enjoying real Life.  I have often stated that I was raised by a single parent because ministry took my father away from our family – for weeks and months at a time.  Daddy estimated that he was gone from home approximately 60 percent of his children’s growing-up years.  Now, he has left again.  This time, he will not be coming back.  At least, not until Jesus does, too.  While he may be physically absent and his voice silent, I am confident that his message will continue to reverberate throughout the generations to come.  My prayer on this day of his move to Our Father’s House is that his death will be a rallying cry.  That tens of thousands of pastors, teachers, evangelists, and ordinary men and women will rise up to take his place.  That they will take up his message like a baton being passed in a relay race and faithfully pass it on to those with whom they come in contact.  Because Daddy’s message is God’s message.  And it’s a message of genuine hope for the future, of love for the present, of forgiveness for the past.  It’s a message, when received, that brings a fresh beginning, unshakable joy, unexplainable peace, eternal significance, meaning and purpose in life, and opens Heaven’s door.”  Ann Graham Lotz  
   
“Because of Christ, there is no place God will not go and no one He will not bless.  You are never beyond God’s love, and you are never alone. God is present even in the midst of your greatest need, your greatest weakness, and your greatest failures. Grace would have it no other way.”   ThornCrown’s Welcome

“I have tasted of Christ’s own manna, and it has put my mouth out of taste for the brown bread of this world's joys.”   Rutherford

“Can you answer this, believer? Can you find any reason why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told you that the night would never end in day? Who told you that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long stretches of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Don't you know that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?  Be full of hope! Hope forever! For God does not fail you. Do you not know that God loves you in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God's love is as true to you now as it was in your brightest moments.”   C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg 

HEART SAVOR

·         Love that is truly love, gives.  Love is a verb it always shows action.

·         Jesus came to demonstrate God’s love – He is to be our model of agape love which is selfless…  Interestingly, when one pours out their life like a drink offering, the blessings and benefits are unsurpassed.

·         Never forget, while we were yet sinners, Christ demonstrated his love for us by dying.  Not because He had to, but because we had for Him to.  There was no hope for us without it.  Not grasping His equality with God, He made himself nothing – taking the very nature of a servant and being found in appearance as a man – He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.

My Refuge Psalms 18:1-2 Exodus 33:21-23 Psalms 40:1-5 Psalms 28:7-8 Psalms 31:1-5 Jeremiah 16:19-21 Psalms 9:9-10 Psalms 94:17-23 Genesis 15:1 Psalms 28:7-8 Psalms 84:11-12 11.23.18

MY REFUGE 

BREAD

¹ I love you, O LORD, my strength. ² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.   Psalm 18:1-2 (NIV)

²¹ Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”   Exodus 33:21-23 (NIV)

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. ⁴ Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.  Psalm 40:1-5 (NIV)

⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. ⁸ The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.  Psalm 28:7-8 (NIV)

¹ In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. ² Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. ³ Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. ⁴ Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. ⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.   Psalm 31:1-5 (NIV)

¹⁹ O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good. ²⁰ Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!” ²¹ “Therefore I will teach them-- this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD.” Jeremiah 16:19-21 (NIV)

⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. ¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:9-10 (NIV)

¹⁷ Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
¹⁸ When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. ¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. ²⁰ Can a corrupt throne be allied with you-- one that brings on misery by its decrees? ²¹ They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. ²² But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. ²³ He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy them. Psalm 94:17-23 (NIV)

¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”  Genesis 15:1 (NIV)

⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. ⁸ The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.  Psalm 28:7-8 (NIV)

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. ¹² O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.  Psalm 84:11-12 (NIV)

HEART SAVOR

“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.  And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.  The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.  That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours, thru him who with us sideth.  Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill; God's truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever.”  Martin Luther

“‘He is my refuge and my fortress’ (Psalm 91:2).  A refuge is a place safely out of harm’s way.  A fortress is a fortified building that is virtually impenetrable by conventional means.  Martin Luther wrote a wonderful hymn that says, ‘A mighty fortress is our God; a bulwark never failing.  Our helper He amidst the flood; of mortal ills prevailing.’  What a statement about the magnificent power and protection of God!  Does God care for you and me?  Can we turn to Him in trust and faith when troubles and temptations threaten to overwhelm us?  Yes – a thousand times yes!  What greater proof do we need than that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place?”    Billy Graham

  

“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

“Do not question and do not doubt.  Each day holds some small joy that shall escape you if you are preoccupied with tomorrow.  Nothing daunts your Father.  Nothing can restore the past and nothing can bind the future, but today you may live in the full blessing of the Father’s smile.  Hold to His words, for they are like a nail driven into solid wood.  All else may seem shifting and transitory, but His Word is firm.  It is a rock that shall not be moved.  It is a firm place to stand.”   Frances J. Roberts

“Why would we fear the shifting sands of culture when our God is the Rock of Ages?”  Jen Wilkin

“We don’t normally like being on the bottom.  It’s just not the position we generally pick.  It goes against our flesh.  Yet, in the Bible’s economy you stoop to rise, you lower and God elevates.  Therefore, rock bottom appears the perfect place to simply look up and the perfect time to begin building upon the solid foundation of the Rock of Christ.  Often stripped of our dearest Delilah’s we are not too dissimilar to the returning prodigal.  We have nothing but our will to bring – do we really ever have anything else?  And Jesus says tenderly, ‘Come’.  On Him you can depend.  On Him you can count.  On Him you can trust.  He turns away no one.  He will never let the righteous fall or blow away for that matter.  His grip is firm and secure.  Much akin to a young mother grabbing her two-year-old in busy traffic and yet so infinitely more.  He dearly loves His children and He always causes them to stand because He is faithful and able to cause us to stand – no matter what wind blows.”   BHY

“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

“‘The LORD is slow to anger’ because He is ‘great in power.’ He is truly great in power who has power over himself. When God's power restrains Himself, then it is power indeed: The power that binds omnipotence is omnipotence surpassed. A man who has a strong mind can bear to be insulted and only resents the wrong when a sense of right demands his action. The weak mind is irritated at a little; the strong mind bears it like a rock that doesn't move though a thousand breakers dash upon it and cast their pitiful malice in spray upon its summit.”  C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“He is near to the broken, He is close to the weary of heart.  In His Name is a refuge, Safety for the weak and discarded.  There is help for the hopeless, For the wounded in need.  In the presence of Jesus, There is power unleashed.  Call upon the Name of the Lord, He’s our Defender, our Deliverer.  A Shelter in the midst of the storm, Jesus, our Savior, He is King over all the earth.  I will sing of my Redeemer, Testify to the touch of His hand, Lifted me from disaster, Set my feet on a solid rock to stand.  God is our Refuge, our Strength and Salvation, A Mighty Fortress is the Lord Almighty.  There is no equal, no power beside Him.  Forever our Champion is the Lord our God.  Our Savior, He is King over all the earth.”    Lyrics to Defender (Call Upon The Name Of The Lord)

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.  On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  Edward Mote

HEART SAVOR

·         God is our refuge, our fortress, our rock, our stronghold.  On Him we can depend.  All other ground is sinking sand.

·         He is our very great reward.

·         Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to false gods for his stability.