"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."

- J. R. R. Tolkien

The Apologist's Evening Prayer

From all my lame defeats and oh! much more,

From all the victories that I seemed to score;

From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf

At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;

From all my proofs of Thy divinity, 

Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.

Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, 

instead of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.

From all my thoughts, even from my thoughts of Thee,

O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.

Lord of the narrow gate and the needle's eye,

Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.

~ C. S. Lewis

Some wisdom from Anne Brontë

When we are harassed by sorrows or anxieties, or long oppressed by any powerful feelings which we much keep to ourselves, for which we can obtain and seek no sympathy from any living creature, and which, yet, we cannot, or will not wholly crush, we often, naturally, seek relief in poetry—and often find it too—whether in the effusions of others, which seem to harmonize with our existing case, or in our own attempts to give utterance to those thoughts and feelings in strains less musical, perchance, but more appropriate, and therefore more penetrating and sympathetic, and, for the time, more soothing, or more powerful to rouse and to unburden the oppressed and swollen heart.
—Anne Brontë (Agnes Grey)

The Importance of Argument

Because I love to argue. ;)

The Importance of Argument

"Certainly a Christianity that avoids argument is not the Christianity of the New Testament. The New Testament is full of argument in defense of the faith. The Epistles of Paul are full of argument—no one can doubt that. But even the words of Jesus are full of argument in defense of the truth of what Jesus was saying. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” Is not that a well-known form of reasoning, which the logicians would put in its proper category? Many of the parables of Jesus are argumentative in character. Even our Lord, who spake in the plenitude of divine authority, did condescend to reason with men. Everywhere the New Testament meets objections fairly, and presents the gospel as a thoroughly reasonable thing.

Some years ago I was in a company of students who were discussing methods of Christian work. An older man, who had had much experience in working among students, arose and said that according to his experience you never win a man to Christ until you stop arguing with him. When he said that, I was not impressed.

It is perfectly true, of course, that argument alone is quite insufficient to make a man a Christian. You may argue with him from now until the end of the world: you may bring forth the most magnificent arguments: but all will be in vain unless there be one other thing—the mysterious, creative power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. But because argument is insufficient, it does not follow that it is unnecessary. Sometimes it is used directly by the Holy Spirit to bring a man to Christ. But more frequently it is used indirectly. A man hears an answer to objections raised against the truth of the Christian religion: and at the time when he hears it he is not impressed. But afterwards, perhaps many years afterwards, his heart at last is touched: he is convicted of sin; he desires to be saved. Yet without that half-forgotten argument he could not believe: the gospel would not seem to him to be true, and he would remain in his sin. As it is, however, the thought of what he has heard long ago comes into his mind; Christian apologetics at last has its day, the way is open, and when he will believe he can believe because he has been made to see that believing is not an offence against truth."

~ J. Gresham Machen

I Wanted to Get My Own Post Out First...

But I just had to share this one.

~

Be comforted, all you who are tried and buffeted with difficulties in your way towards heaven, difficulties from without and difficulties from within, difficulties abroad and difficulties at home, grief for your own sins and grief for the sins of others: the Good Shepherd Jesus knows you well, though you may not think it. You never shed a secret tear over your own corruption, you never breathed a single prayer for forgiveness and helping grace, you never made a single struggle against wickedness, which He did not remark and note down in the book of His remembrance. You need not fear His not understanding your needs, you need not be afraid your prayers are too poor and unlearned to be attended to; He knows your particular necessities far better than you do yourselves, and your humble supplications are no sooner offered up than heard.

~ J.C. Ryle

So I Like Quotes

They're easy when I see that it's been a week since I wrote my last post, and it has only felt like about two days. How did that happen?

~

“How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil. This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. Nothing.

Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. That is how we win. It is the only way we win. This is the only ground of our acceptance before God. If you drift far from the cross, you are done. You are defeated.

We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb.”

—D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus

7 Thoughts on Reading the Bible by J. C. Ryle

1) Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand it.

2) Read the Scriptures with a simple, childlike faith and humility.

3) Read the Word with a spirit of obedience and self-application.

4) Read the Holy Scriptures everyday.

5) Read the whole Bible and read it an orderly way.

6) Read the Word of God fairly and honestly.

7) Read the Bible with Christ constantly in view.

~ J.C. Ryle

I get quotes of Ryle's every day in my email, and I would have to say that I'm quite a fan of his. ;) He offered some great advice in his day. Here's a quote from him:

Look not to yourselves! You are by nature wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked; you cannot make atonement for your past transgressions, you cannot wipe out a single page in that long black list. And when the King shall ask you for your wedding garment you will be speechless. Look simply unto Jesus, and then the weight shall fall from off your shoulders, the course shall be clear and plain, and you shall run the race which is set before you.

Another Spurgeon Quote

"In this degenerate time we are very much as Israel was in the days of the Judges, for there are raised up among us leaders who judge Israel, and are the terror of her foes. Oh, if the church had in her midst a race of heroes; if our missionary operations could be attended with the holy chivalry which marked the church in the early days; if we could have back apostles and martyrs, or even such as Carey and Judson, what wonders would be wrought!...

The fact is, the most of us are vastly inferior to the early Christians, who, as I take it, were persecuted because they were thoroughly Christians, and we are not persecuted because we hardly are Christians at all. They were so earnest in the propagation of the Redeemer’s kingdom, that they became the nuisance of the age in which they lived. They would not let errors alone. They had not conceived the opinion that they were to hold the truth, and leave other people to hold error without trying to intrude their opinions upon them, but they preached Christ Jesus right and left, and delivered their testimony against every sin. They denounced the idols, and cried out against superstition, until the world, fearful of being turned upside down, demanded of them, “Is that what you mean? Then we will burn you, lock you up in prison, and exterminate you.” To which the church replied, “We will accept the challenge, and will not depart from our resolve to conquer the world for Christ.” At last the fire in the Christian church burned out the persecution of an ungodly world.

But we are so gentle and quiet, we do not use strong language about other people’s opinions; but let men go to hell out of charity to them.

We are not at all fanatical, and for all we do to disturb him, the old manslayer has a very comfortable time of it.

We would not wish to save any sinner who does not particularly wish to be saved.

If persons choose to attend our ministry, we shall be pleased to say a word to them in a mild way, but we do not speak with tears streaming down our cheeks, groaning and agonising with God for them; neither would we thrust our opinions upon them, though we know they are being lost for want of the knowledge of Christ crucified. May God send the latter rain to his church, to me, and to you, and may we begin to bestir ourselves, and seek after the highest form of earnestness for the kingdom of King Jesus. May the days come in which we shall no longer have to complain that we sow much and reap little, but may we receive a hundredfold reward, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."

A Good Read

This is worth reading and thinking about. I want to put the quote here too, because it's that good. (I've made my favourite part bold.)

"Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.

It follows that every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone. For, he was sold, to buy us back; captive, to deliver us; condemned, to absolve us; he was made a curse for our blessing, sin offering for our righteousness; marred that we may be made fair; he died for our life; so that by him fury is made gentle, wrath appeased, darkness turned into light, fear reassured, despisal despised, debt canceled, labor lightened, sadness made merry, misfortune made fortunate, difficulty easy, disorder ordered, division united, ignominy ennobled, rebellion subjected, intimidation intimidated, ambush uncovered, assaults assailed, force forced back, combat combated, war warred against, vengeance avenged, torment tormented, damnation damned, the abyss sunk into the abyss, hell transfixed, death dead, mortality made immortal. In short, mercy has swallowed up all misery, and goodness all misfortune.

For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit. If we are able to boast with the apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? it is because by the Spirit of Christ promised to the elect, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us; and we are by the same Spirit seated among those who are in heaven, so that for us the world is no more, even while our conversation [life] is in it; but we are content in all things, whether country, place, condition, clothing, meat, and all such things. And we are comforted in tribulation, joyful in sorrow, glorying under vituperation [verbal abuse], abounding in poverty, warmed in our nakedness, patient amongst evils, living in death." - John Calvin

Amen!

Ashamed to Run to Christ

“I feel when I have sinned an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would not do to go, as if it were making Christ the minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thousand other excuses. But I am persuaded they are all lies direct from hell.

John argues the opposite way—‘If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father;’ … The holy sensitiveness of the soul that shrinks from the touch of sin, the acute susceptibility of the conscience at the slightest shade of guilt, will of necessity draw the spiritual mind frequently to the blood of Jesus. And herein lies the secret of a heavenly walk. Acquaint yourself with it, my reader, as the most precious secret of your life. He who lives in the habit of a prompt and minute acknowledgement of sin, with his eye reposing calmly, believingly, upon the crucified Redeemer, soars in spirit where the eagle’s pinion [wings] range not.”

- Octavius Winslow

Awesome Quote

And short too! XD What does it remind you of...?

"Trust in God, but tie your camel." ~Arabian Proverb~

Timeless Love

Psalm 136:2 "Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever."

Ephesians 1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

1 John 4:16 "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

"He loved you without beginning. Before years, and centuries, and millenniums began to be counted, your name was on his heart. Eternal thoughts of love have been in God’s bosom towards you. He has loved you without a pause; there never was a minute in which he did not love you. Your name once engraved upon his hands has never been erased, nor has he ever blotted it out of the Book of Life. Since you have been in this world he has loved you most patiently. You have often provoked him; you have rebelled against him times without number, yet he has never stayed the outflow of his heart towards you; and, blessed be his name, he never will. You are his, and you always shall be his. Jesus saith, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” God’s love to you is without boundary. He could not love you more, for he loves you like a God; and he never will love you less. All his heart belongs to you. “As the Father hath loved me,” saith Jesus, “even so have I loved you.”"

~ Charles Spurgeon, "Deep Calleth Unto Deep," - April 11, 1869.

What has no beginning can have no end.

For Whom the Bell Tolls...

"PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he

knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so

much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my

state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.

The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she

does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action

concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which

is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member.

And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is

of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is

not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language;

and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several

translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness,

some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every

translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves

again for that library where every book shall lie open to one

another.

As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not

upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this

bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the

door by this sickness.

There was a contention as far as a suit (in

which both piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were

mingled), which of the religious orders should ring to prayers

first in the morning; and it was determined, that they should ring

first that rose earliest.

If we understand aright the dignity of

this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to

make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be

ours as well as his, whose indeed it is.

The bell doth toll for him

that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that

minute that this occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God.

Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes

off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his

ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove

it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this

world?

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece

of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by

the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's

death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and

therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

it tolls for thee.

Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing

of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but

must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the

misery of our neighbours.

Truly it were an excusable covetousness

if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath

enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and

ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.

If a man

carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none

coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he

travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not

current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our

home, heaven, by it.

Another man may be sick too, and sick to

death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a

mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his

affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this

consideration of another's danger I take mine own into

contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my

God, who is our only security."

~ John Donne, Meditation 17

The Bible is Very Easy to Understand

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.

Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?

Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God.

Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

~ Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher

Another Neat Quote

"The more we begin to feel satisfied that we are making some progress along the road of sanctification, it is all the more necessary to repent and confess that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Yet the Christian life is not one of gloom, but of ever increasing joy in the Lord.

God alone knows our good works, all we know is his good work. We can do no more than hearken to his commandment, carry on and rely on his grace, walk in his commandments, and- sin.

All the time our new righteousness, our sanctification, the light which is meant to shine, are veiled from our eyes. The left hand knows not what the right hand does. But we believe, and are well assured, "that he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1.6).

In that day Christ will show us the good works of which we were unaware. While we knew it not, we gave him food, drink and clothing and visited him, and while we knew it not we rejected him. Great will be our astonishment in that day, and we shall then realize that it is not our works which remain, but the work which God has wrought through us in his good time without any effort of will and intention on our part (Matt. 25.31ff).

Once again we simply are to look away from ourselves to him who has himself accomplished all things for us and to follow him."

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Cost of Discipleship", pg.335

Neat Quote, I Thought

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Authority (Chicago: IVP, 1958), 41:

The authority of the Scriptures is not a matter to be defended, so much as to be asserted. I address this remark particularly to Conservative Evangelicals. I am reminded of what the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said in this connection: “There is no need for you to defend a lion when he is being attacked. All you need to do is to open the gate and let him out.” We need to remind ourselves frequently that it is the preaching and exposition of the Bible that really establish its truth and authority.

Hilarious Quote

"I'm sure that most of the crimes in the world must be committed by hungry people. I always feel 'fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils' when I’m hungry." 

- Lucy Maud Montgomery (with thanks to William Shakespeare)

Yes, that is all. 

What? 0.0

I don't always write gimoungously gargantuan posts, you know. 

Book Quote Pt. 2

"He felt exhausted beyond all reason. His thought drifted without direction. To lose Thunderhead, that he was resigned to. But what about Jewel? Carey? Everything? How had he happened to get in this jam? What about life itself? Would he achieve anything he wanted? What lay ahead? Suddenly he shuddered. It seemed as if all his needs and wants were known...they lay exposed to some malevolent eye...he was helpless...and all that he loved would be swept out of his reach by some power he could not control.
Attempting, with his inner vision, to see what lay ahead for him it seemed as if he could almost divine his future life as if it were a wide, mist-covered plain, dark. If there were waiting for him marriage, fatherhood, a life work, a home of his own, children, he could not see them. He could see no path leading to any of those stations and it did not seem possible that they were really there. How could there come a directive on the path of his life?
There was the soft steady rustle of the rain falling, there was the hissing of the fire, there was the indescribably sweet fresh smell of the earth and the grasses, and occasionally the sharp crash of a heavy pine cone falling, scattering showers of water.
An hour passed. Still Ken sat motionless. How helpless he was...not only he, but his father...the things you read in newspapers...what terrible things happen to people because they are all helpless and cannot save themselves...just little futile children, unable to plan and do and achieve what they want to, frustrated and defeated at every turn. He began to feel surprised. He had not always known this. Lots of times he himself had been defeated, but he had never dreamed other people had it happen to them, too. He had thought grown people had power and could propose and dispose, his father and the President and all big powerful men. But they couldn't...No.... His father wanted Thunderhead to be found as much as he himself wanted it. Besides, his father would die someday; the President, too...No. Everyone was helpless and no one was complete or sure.
He reached this as a fact, as concrete as if it were something he held in his hands. He accepted it.
Finding this and accepting it, there began in him again the wild coursing; his mind, like a greyhound, trying to find the power that was not in himself or other men, the completeness that he now knew he would never have in himself.
And suddenly his lips parted in surprise and he said aloud, "Why! That's God!"

Book Quote Pt. 1

I recently read "Green Grass of Wyoming" by Mary O'Hara, and the book is good in its entirety, but there are a couple of parts that were especially good.

Here's one of them:

"The term, "the love of God" is used so much. It is spoken of as if it should be taken for granted. Children are told, "If you loved God you wouldn't do that." The child never seems to have the sense to answer, "But I don't love Him. I don't know Him. I don't want Him or ever think about Him." Which would often be the truth. Also, it seems to be taken for granted in most sermons, that of course every Christian, every religious person has a true love of God in his heart. But this is not so. I think it is one of the rarest things in the world, one of the greatest gifts, really the pearl of great price. So I always say in my mind most urgently to preachers, "Well, now, give us a sermon about the Love of God. How can you get it? Where is it to be found?" But I don't think I have ever heard a sermon about just that one thing (which is not to say that they have not been preached).
So the upshot is that I have done a great deal of thinking about it myself, trying to find out how that beautiful flame can be lit within the human heart. I have traced love, any kind of love, back to its beginnings, or tried to, and it seems to me I have found out a good deal about it.

To begin with - just one more word about the way LOVE bestows happiness. When you come to think of it, there is nothing that bestows happiness except love. Love is implicit in all praise, in admiration. You know how, in yourself, when you see some glorious thing, a sunset, or a beautiful face, or some of those exquisite scenes of nature that you now and then come upon, a great tide of praise, love and happiness rises in your heart until it seems that it will burst, and tears push up behind your eyes! Or perhaps it is the grandeur of a symphony. Or perhaps it is great courage or a noble, unselfish deed - and again that bursting love fills the heart. This can be traced down to the smallest thing. Imagine a young girl, about to go to her coming-out party. She sees her dress lying on the bed, clasps her hands (a classic attitude of praise and love!) and stands there in a trance of happiness. Or, a gathering of friends. Analyze your warm, happy feeling. You may call it good cheer, geniality, hospitality. These are other names for love.
And so I say that it is love that gives us all our happiness, and if only we could find some way to kindle it to a great flame in ourselves, which would never wane or die, and for some One who could never disappoint or abandon us, we could ask nothing more. We would be just bursting with happiness all the time. This great happiness is what the Saints have, and is why they are Saints. This happiness is what the mystics have. So now, back to our search - how to get it?
Well then, look at love. Wherever you see it (and you see it nearly everywhere) trace it to its beginning. What started it?

Let's take a very simple example. Penny, when she sees me the first thing in the morning. Or the puppies. They almost burst with love. Where do they get it? Where does Penny get it?
Well, Penny needs me. Penny is helpless without me. From the mother a baby gets security, food, warmth, tenderness, companionship and a thousand gifts that change and increase as the infant gets larger and needs more.

So first there is need.
Now what next? Second, I should say, the recognition of the source of good. It isn't long before the infant knows that all these things come from its mother. And what next? Gratitude. And here we have love, the full cup running over.
There one sees the evolution of love. First NEED, then RECOGNITION OF THE SOURCE OF GOOD (I wish I could find one word for that - perhaps you can) and then GRATITUDE.
I think there is no love in the world that does not begin with those things.
The love of friends? Of course. The need, the recognition of that particular person as a friend, and then the gratitude.
The love of men and women? First, their great and permanent need, then the recognition of each other as possessors of all the gifts that could fill that need, then, if the gifts are bestowed - the great gratitude.
The love of God? First we find out how much we need Him. I think that a person who does not find that out, who is incapable of finding that out, who is always smug and self-sufficient, can never win this great happiness.
Then, needing Him, we grope around perhaps for years to find the source of good. And at last we do. Probably someone tells us, tells us in a way that we can accept and understand. The torch is lit from one hand to the other, and has been all down through the ages. We know where our good is and we turn away from the things of the world (or at least we know that they are not of final power and importance) to God, and our "hearts burn within us" and we know that He is with us, always has been, always will be, and we are filled with gratitude and we are so happy we could die.
This second step in the process I suppose is a miracle. It is a gift. It comes to some and not to others. I suppose it comes to those who need the most, who seek the most persistently. It takes thinking about. It might seem that there are many good things which do not come from God - the girl's pretty dress, the good dinner, material belongings which are bought, or achievements which are earned, but this is looking at it in a small way. The nobility of human character, heroism, courage, unselfishness, steadfastness, conscience above all - that inexplicable determination in man to lift himself up from his lower nature and live on the highest level he is capable of (and to this force can be traced all man's progress of whatever sort) - it is obvious that these come from God. And we are grateful for them. Try to imagine what life on this planet would be like if man had no conscience. Try to imagine it without beauty. Try to imagine the physical universe without order, plan, design.
If you think of things like that, Howard, perhaps, suddenly, your heart will "burn within you" and you will know that the flame of the love of God has been lit because you have recognized Him as the source of good.
Once you have the love of God it spills over onto everything, and your heart and your life and your world are full of love and therefore full of happiness."

Quotes From Brilliant Minds

These say it better than I can:

"If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the Gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the Gospel it rusts and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the Gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning." Martin Luther

The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

"He makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of 'other things.' Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame. But flame is transient, often short lived. Canst thou bear this, my soul - short life? ... Make me thy fuel, Flame of God." Jim Elliot

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.

It is very humbling to read what the likes of Martin Luther and Jim Elliot have written. The question I always ask myself is, Do I have like faith? Am I trusting you, Lord, with my all? Oh, Help me to do so! Help me to live with Your word, Lord, not tucked away in my heart but stuffed in every place, at the expense of all else! What would I hold on to, what is more precious to me, than You? Rid of it, Lord - tear it away.

Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.