Walk In The Way Of Wisdom James 1:5 James 3:13-18 Colossians 2:20-23 Matthew 11:19 Proverbs 4:7-9 Proverbs 8:10-11 Proverbs 23:23 Proverbs 2:6-7 Ephesians 1:17-21 05.31.19

WALK IN THE WAY OF WISDOM

BREAD

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  James 1:5 (NIV)

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:13-18 (NIV)

²⁰ Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
²² These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.  Colossians 2:20-23 (NIV)

¹⁹ “But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” Matthew 11:19 (NIV)

⁷ “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. ⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. ⁹ She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.” Proverbs 4:7-9 (NIV)

¹⁰ Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, ¹¹ for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:10-11 (NIV)

²³ Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.   Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.   Proverbs 2:6-7 (NIV)

¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:17-21 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way.  There is a better way.  It is to repudiate our own and take instead the infinite wisdom of God…..God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.”   A. W. Tozer

“They do not go wrong who go in the company of God.  Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road.  You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you.  ‘The LORD’ – note the word – ‘The LORD will guide you always.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Faith raises the soul above the difficulty, straight to God Himself, and enables one to stand still.  We gain nothing by our restless and anxious efforts….It is therefore true wisdom, in all times of difficulty and perplexity, to stand still – to wait only upon God, and He will assuredly open a way for us.”  C.H. Mackintosh 

“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

“I arise today Through God’s strength to pilot me:  God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak to me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me, From snares of devils, From temptations of vices, From every one who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear, Alone and in a multitude.”  St. Patrick

“‘I will help thee.’  O my soul, is not this enough?  Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity?  Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit?  Bring hither thine empty pitcher!  Surely this well will fill it.  Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them there – thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs.  Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside?  Go forth, my soul, in this thy might.  The Eternal God is thine helper!”  C. H. Spurgeon 

“Contrary to the world's beliefs, the spiritual fruit of self-control does not come about through the discipline of self-mastery, but rather through surrendering ourselves to God's control. None of us fully have the power, capability, or wisdom to master our own lives. You cannot resist all the temptations that are hurled at you, control the behavior of those closest to you, or limit the ideas that pop into your mind. What you can do is surrender your life to the Holy Spirit. You can control how you respond, yield, and submit to Him.”    Michael Youssef

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.”   Augustine

“Give me all needed strength of body, wisdom of mind, grace of soul to do this Thy so great work.”   Hudson Taylor

“Common sense suits itself to the ways of the world.  Wisdom tries to conform to the ways of heaven.”  Joseph Joubert

“God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.”   Thomas Brooks

“But when the psalmist said, ‘All my springs are in you,’ he meant that all his innermost resources were found in His ever-flowing and overflowing Lord – all his courage, all his joy, all his resilience, all his optimism, all his hope, all his love, all his wisdom, all his patience.  The Lord Jesus is the source of that which refreshes our personalities and of all that makes our personalities refreshing.”   Robert J. Morgan

“I don’t know how, but somehow? –maybe our hearts are made to be broken. Broken open. Broken free. Maybe the deepest wounds birth deepest wisdom. We are made in the image of God. And wasn’t God’s heart made to be broken too? Wounds can be openings to the beauty in us. And our weaknesses can be a container for God’s glory.  Hannah tasted salty tears of infertility. Elijah howled for God to take his life. David asked his soul a thousand times why it was so downcast.  The thing is? God does great things through the greatly wounded. God sees the broken as the best and He sees the best in the broken and He calls the wounded to be the world changers.  Never ever be afraid of being a broken thing. And maybe—this is the way to freedom? You’ve got to remember to just keep breathing —keep believing. Brokenness can make.”   Ann Voskamp 

“The surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the Word of God. The readiest way to be spiritually rich in heavenly knowledge is to dig in this mine of diamonds, to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When Jesus Himself sought to enrich others, He mined in the quarry of Holy Scripture.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

“We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences.  If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.”  John Newton 

“Wisdom is man’s true strength; and, under its guidance, he best accomplishes the ends of his being.  Wisely handling the matter of life gives to humankind the richest enjoyment, and presents the noblest occupation for his powers; hence, by it he finds good in the fullest sense.  Without wisdom, man is as the wild ass’s colt, running here and there, wasting strength which might be profitably employed.  Wisdom is the compass by which we are to steer across the trackless waste of life; without it we are derelict vessels, the sport of winds and waves.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“God himself is the great supreme value. Everything else that has any value has it by connection to God. God is supreme in all things. He has all authority, all power, all wisdom — and he is all good ‘to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.’” (Lamentations 3:25).  John Piper

HEART SAVOR

• ·         God desires for us to walk in His wisdom and not in our own – this, of course, should be our desire as well.
• ·         God directs us through His Word, through the Holy Spirit indwelling each child of the King, through prayer, through the counsel of other believers and through a myriad of other ways – even a donkey!  Seek Him, He shows you.
• ·         Wisdom is more valuable than precious stones.   

The Forgiven Forgive Psalms 130:3-4 Matthew 6:14-15 Colossians 1:13-14 Matthew 18:21-22 Mark 11:25 Luke 6:37-38 Ephesians 4:29-32 1 John 1:8-9 Colossians 3:12-14 Matthew 6:9-13 05.29.19

THE FORGIVEN FORGIVE

BREAD

³ If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.   Psalm 130:3-4 (NIV)

¹⁴ “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

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 1:13-14 (NIV)

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”   Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)

²⁵ “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Mark 11:25 (NIV)

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Luke 6:37-38 (NIV)

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:29-32 (NIV)

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.   1 John 1:8-9 (NIV)

¹² Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘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 today our daily bread. ¹² Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The man who is truly forgiven and knows it is a man who forgives.”  Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Make me into a rock which swallows up the waves of wrong in its great caverns and never throws them back to swell the commotion of the angry sea from whence they came.  Ah!  To annihilate wrong in this way – to say, ‘It shall not be wrong against me, so utterly do I forgive it!’”  George MacDonald

“Peacemakers are people who breathe grace.  They draw continually on the goodness and power of Jesus Christ, and then they bring His love, mercy, forgiveness, strength and wisdom to the conflicts of daily life.  God delights to breathe His grace through peacemakers and use them to dissipate anger, improve understanding, promote justice and encourage repentance and restoration.”    Ken Sande

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

“God’s forgiveness forgets.”    Oswald Chambers

“Consider Christ. He was of a meek and quiet spirit, and of a most long-suffering behavior…He was very much the object of bitter contempt and reproach, and slights and despised as of but little account. Though he as the Lord of glory, yet he was set at naught, and rejected…He was the object of the spit and malice and bitter reviling of the very ones he came to save…He was called a deceiver of people, and oftentimes he was said to be mad, and possessed with the devil…He was charged with being a wicked blasphemer, and one that deserved death on that account. They hated him with morbid hatred, and wished he was dead, and from time to time tried to murder him…His life was an annoyance to them, and they hated him so they could not bear that he should live… Yet Christ meekly bored all these injuries without resentment or one word of reproach, and with heavenly quietness of spirit pass through them all…On the contrary, he prayed for his murderers, that they might be forgiven, even when they were nailing him to the cross; and not only prayed for them, but pleaded in their behalf with His Father, that they knew not what they were doing.”  Jonathan Edwards

“When you cling tightly to bitterness, anger, resentment, and unforgiveness, elevating them above your relationship with God, they become ‘idols’ in your life. For each idol you are willing to destroy, you will gain more than you lose. Each time you surrender something to God, you will remove another hindrance to a productive life of faith and prayer. Every idol that is demolished will bring you new treasures of grace and peace.”   Michael Youssef

“Forgiveness is in no way agreeing on the rightness of the sin nor is it abdicating its far reaching consequences rather it is simply seeking to love the repentant sinner rightly as well as freeing ourselves from the bitterness that inevitably comes from the lack of forgiveness.  It is God’s way.”  BHY

“From God’s perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from His throne to run to His returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.”  Henri J. M. Nouwen

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable; because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”  C.S. Lewis

“Forgiveness saves us the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.”  Hannah More

“Who among us does not need grace?  Who among us does not long for merciful loving-kindness?  Who among us does not need forgiveness?  Every morning get up and teach yourself the Gospel – we all are sinners in need of a Savior – and be ever so thankful that we have One.”    BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         Freely we have been forgiven, freely we are to forgive.

·         We are to be kind and compassionate and forgiving.

·         Forgiveness forgets. 

He Is Able Psalms 138:7-8 Daniel 4:37 Daniel 3:16-18 Matthew 9:27-31 2 Corinthians 9:8 Romans 8:38-39 Ephesians 6:13 2 Timothy 1:12 Jude 1:24-25 Ephesians 3:20-21 05.27.19

HE IS ABLE

BREAD

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. ⁸ The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.  Psalm 138:7-8 (NIV)

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.  Daniel 4:37 (NIV)

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.   Matthew 9:27-31 (NIV)

⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

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 8:38-39 (NIV)

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)

¹² That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.  Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Faith, raises the soul above the difficulty, straight to God Himself, and enables one to stand still.  We gain nothing by our restless and anxious efforts……It is therefore true wisdom, in all times of difficulty and perplexity, to stand still - to wait only upon God, and He will assuredly open a way for us.”  C.H. Mackintosh

“It is natural for us to wish and to plan, and it is merciful of the Lord to disappoint our plans and to cross our wishes.  For we cannot be safe or happy until we are weaned from our own wills and made simply desirous of being directed by His guidance.  Although we understand this we seldom learn to put it into practice without being trained for a while in the school of disappointment.  The schemes we form look so plausible and convenient that when they are broken we are ready to say, ‘What a pity!’  We try again, and with no better success; we are grieved, and perhaps angry, and plan another, and so on; eventually, in the course of time, experience and observation begin to convince us that we are no more able than we are worthy to choose correctly for ourselves.  The Lord’s invitation to cast our cares upon Him, and His promise to take care of us, appear valuable; and when we have done planning, His plan in our favor gradually opens, and He does more and better for us than we could either ask or think.  I can hardly recollect a single plan of mine, which if it had taken place in the time and the way I wanted would, humanly speaking, have proved my ruin; or at least would have deprived me of the greater good the Lord had designed for me.  We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences.  If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.”  John Newton

“The basis of trusting Him is seeing Him as our totally able and faithful Father.” Sylvia Gunter

“Praise elevates our eyes off our circumstances and places them on to Him Who is able to keep us from falling.  Praise often precedes the movement of God’s hand for His children because it demonstrates our love and dependence upon Him having full knowledge it is He  Who is actually in control of all things – not  us.”   BHY

“On Him then reckon, to Him look, on Him depend:  and be assured that if you walk with Him, look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.  An older brother, who has known the Lord for forty-four years, who writes this, says for your encouragement that He has never failed him.  In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials, in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by His grace to trust in Him, He has always appeared for my help.  I delight in speaking well of His Name.”   George Mueller

“Sin is the sickness of the soul.  It is deforming, weakening, disturbing, wasting, and killing, but, we bless God, not incurable.  Jesus Christ is the great Physician of souls.  Wise and good people should be like physicians to everyone around them; Christ was so.  Souls that are sick with sin need this Physician, for their disease is dangerous; nature will not help itself.  No mortal can help us; we have such need of Christ that we are eternally ruined without Him.”  Matthew Henry

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.”   Corrie ten Boom

“God’s blessings are not limited to the human resources available.”   Tom Elliff

“Take heed that you do not glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for this is the only way you can be kept from falling.  Pray more often.  Spend longer periods of time in holy adoration.  Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly.  Watch your lives more carefully.  Live nearer to God.  Take the best examples for your pattern.  Let your conversation emit the fragrance of heaven.  Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for the souls of others.  So live that others may recognize that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him…On, Christian, with care and caution!  On, with holy fear and trembling!  On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, ‘Sustain me according to your promise.’  He, and He alone, is able ‘to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.’”  Charles H. Spurgeon 

“I love Him because He first loved me.  His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day.  And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character.  My trust is in His love for me as His own.  My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation.  This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd.  Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.”   Phillip Keller

HEART SAVOR

• ·         God is able to do all things – no plan of His can be thwarted.
• ·         Faith believes God is able and that He does all things in love.  Indeed, e does He does immeasurably more than we can even ask or imagine.
• ·         Now we see but a poor reflection, then we shall see face to face.  Now we know in part, then we shall know fully even as we are fully known.

  

Defiant Joy Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah 12:43 Psalms 43:3-4 Habakkuk 3:17-19 Job 19:25-27 Acts 16:22-31 Acts 7:54-60 Hebrews 12:1-3 Galatians 5:22-23 05.24.19

DEFIANT JOY

BREAD

¹⁰ Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)

⁴³ And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.   Nehemiah 12:43 (NIV)

³ Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. ⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.  Psalm 43:3-4 (NIV)

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. ¹⁹ The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.   Habakkuk 3:17-19 (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)

²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don't harm yourself! We are all here!” ²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household.” Acts 16:22-31 (NIV)

⁵⁴ When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.  Acts 7:54-60 (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Do you want the gifts or the giver?   Do you want deliverance from suffering and discomfort or do you want the Comforter Himself?  We believe the lie that if you follow and obey God into discomfort and out of what is ‘safe’ then there will be blessings and reward for you and things will go well…but instead you’ve entered into discomfort and you’re finding it’s your new normal.  How can suffering and joy coexist?  In suffering, there is a death to life resurrection we get to witness, a picture of new life.  In suffering, we anchor ourselves in the assurance of hope and joy in Jesus not in our circumstances.  In American Christianity, we have bought into the lie that if it is good, then it cannot be hard.  That goodness must exclude suffering.  This is not true.  In Jesus’ upside-down gospel good and hard totally coexist and weave together for our goodness and His glory.”   Jay and Katherine Wolf   

“Solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.”   John Newton

“If there is joy in the world, surely the man of pure heart possesses it.”  Thomas a Kempis

“Circumstances do not have the power to steal your joy.  Joy is the by-product of experiencing God’s sovereign grace even in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances.”   Anonymous

“Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.”   Leon Bloy

“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee.  I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be.  O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee.  My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter fairer be.  O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee.  I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be.  O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee.  I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.”   George Matheson

“I cannot understand Him, but I can trust Him.   And so today, when everything physical and emotional in me is completely drained, and there is not a single note of praise in my heart, I choose to praise Him anyway.  Not for what He does, but for Who He is.  When I cannot praise Him out of joy, I will praise Him out of obedience.  And I am learning that when I praise Him out of obedience from the depths of the pit, it is always more meaningful than when I praise Him out of an overflow of my heart from the heights of the mountain.  And because I know His nature, and I know that even when I don’t feel it, He is still a kind, loving, good God, then I know that soon, He will fill my heart with joy once again.  And the praise will flow easily from the depths of my heart.”    Laura Black

“Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones… The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers… By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5)… because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.”  John Flavel (1630-1691)

“The grace of God is love freely shown towards guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit.  It is God showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity, and had no reason to expect anything but severity.  We have seen why the thought of grace means so little to some church people—namely, because they do not share the beliefs about God and man which it presupposes.  Now we have to ask:  why should this thought mean so much to others?  The answer is not far to seek; indeed, it is evident from what has already been said.  It is surely clear that, once a man is convinced that his state and need are as described, the New Testament gospel of grace cannot but sweep him off his feet with wonder and joy.  For it tells how our Judge has become our Saviour.”  J.I. Packer

“Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee, For the bliss Thy love bestows, For the pardoning grace that saves me, And the peace that from it flows; Help O God, my weak endeavor; this dull soul to rapture raise; Thou must light the flame, or never Can my love be warmed to praise.”    Francis Scott Key

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”  Madeline L’Engle

“When faith has the upper hand in my heart I am satisfied with Christ and His promises.  This is what Jesus meant when He said, ‘He who believed in Me shall never thirst’ (John 6:35).  When my thirst for joy and meaning and passion are satisfied by the presence and promises of Christ, the power of sin is broken.  We do not yield to the offer of sandwich meat when we can smell steak sizzling on the grill.  The fight of faith against lust is the fight to stay satisfied with God.”  John Piper

“Seeking with faith, hope, and love pleases our Lord; and finding Him pleases the soul, filling it full of joy.”   Julian of Norwich

“Thou hast made us for Thyself, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.”   Augustine

“It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world.  But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life.  They have found a joy and a wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life.  They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.  They are masters of their souls.  They have overcome the world.  These people, Donatus, are Christians…and I am one of them.”   St. Cyprian, 200-258

HEART SAVOR

• ·         The joy of the Lord is our strength.
• ·         Joy is the second listed in the Fruit of the Spirit…and every true believer in Jesus HAS the Spirit of God.  Paul tells us:  ⁹  You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.   Romans 8:9 (NIV)
• ·         We are to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.