See #1

This makes me smile. So true, so simple. In two steps Dane Ortlund sums up Martin Luther’s approach to life:

1. Trust in Christ.

2. See #1.

Thoughtless

I've been reading Ray Ortlund's blog which has been such a blessing. Thought i'd share this one with you:

Thoughtless

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Wise and Humble and Useful

"By God's grace, I've weathered many storms just like this, and if you submit to what God is trying to teach you, He will make you wise, and humble, and useful."

-Billy Grahm

Delirioius?

"Over the mountains and the sea,
Your river runs with love for me,
and will open up my heart,
and let the healer set me free.

I'm happy to be in the Truth,
and I will daily lift my hands,
for I will always sing of when Your Love came down.
I could sing of Your love forever.

Oh I feel like dancin',
it's foolishness I know,
but when the world has seen the Light,
they will dance with joy like we're dancin' now!"

The Things i Ponder Too

Though the angels were created before us,
and are with God now;

though the angels saw Christ depart from heaven,
and followed as he grew into a man;

though the angels ministered to Him at Gethsemane
and watched the crucifixion;

Though the angels are with Him now,
and may see everything subject to Him;

though the angels will blow the trumpets,
and proclaim Christ's return;

though day and night the angels sing,
holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come;

yes, though the angels have never ceased with praise,
we may sing a song that even the angels can not sing;

a song of God's children,
a song of salvation.

For surely it is not angels that he helps,
but he helps the offspring of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16).

The Things i Ponder

When people ask, how are you doing, i try so very hard not to reply, fine. My hope is to give an accurate answer because i wonder how much Christ is served by being just fine.
When i am overcome with joy and bursting at the seams, i say so without much effort or second thought. When my heart aches and i am fighting the mist that seems to surround me without an end in sight... well that is when honesty becomes difficult. Some of my go to answers in these cases would be, i'm fighting for joy, or hanging in and hanging on.

The one that i use most often - the one that has got me pondering - is, i am cleaving to Christ with all i've got. So... i know God is pleased and glorified when we walk faithfully the path He has given us; yet in my head i envisioned Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, clinging on to the edge of the cliff for dear life. I imagined him clawing into the earth with his fingers, collecting dirt under his nails, scratching his boots along the side groping for a foothold and tugging on plant roots to support his weight.
And i came to wonder... if i am cleaving to Christ like that, does it hurt Him?

Spurgeon Series Part 6

The Holy Spirit continues to resounded in my heart, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thes 5:18). From an earthly view it is impossible to rejoice in a God that allows pain and suffering. But through the lens of the Holy Spirit, one may see that they are given a gift to walk as Christ himself walked.
Beloved friend, i have been to the places where every inch of the body is searing with pain. I have been brought to my knees pleading for my death. Yes, distress and physical suffering have brought me up to the cusp of all that God made me able to endure - yet i am young and there is room for that threshold to grow. Dear beloved, i can tell you that God is faithful. Christ has carried me through and be sure He will carry you through as well. These are precious moments beyond compare. Just as James and John did not understand for what they asked (Mk 10:35-40), we do not understand the sorrow we must drink to understand and rejoice more fully in the Love of the Father.

Again, Spurgeon says it better:

From This Time Forth
Psalm 115:18

We will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore" (Psalm 115:18). Our praise will never end. "From this time forth and forevermore" includes eternity. We praise Him not in our strength but in the strength of grace. That strength will never be exhausted; it will be renewed day by day.
If God takes you to the sick bed, if every limb becomes a mass of pain, if every nerve is a highway for crowds of pain to travel, keep on praising Him. Continue to bless, praise and magnify His name.
Even death cannot stop us from blessing God; it will only increase the heavenly choir and sweeten the harmony. We shall love the Lord more and praise Him better when our souls can speak without being hindered by our lips. Then we shall speak in a nobler and sweeter language before the throne of God:

My God, I'll praise Thee while I live,
And praise Thee when I die,
And praise Thee when I rise again,
And to eternity.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue,
Lies silent in the grave.