Take a saint, and put him into any condition, and he knows how to rejoice in the Lord. ---- Walter Craddock
For the sake of Christ, then, "I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (II Corinthians 12:10)
...for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers... (I Thessalonians 1:6).
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds; for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:6).
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed (I Peter 4:13).
A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Be Still My Soul, (Katherina von Schlegel, 1752).
Thou shalt never find a bundle of affliction which has not been bound up in the midst of sufficient grace. ---- CH Spurgeon
....a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (II Corinthians 12:7-9).
All the sin of heathendom, all the sin of Christendom, is but the outgrowth of one root --- God dethroned, self enthroned in the heart of man. --- Andrew Murray
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (II Corinthians 10:5, 12, 18).
A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: O Lord, Thou Judge of All the Earth (The Psalter 1912, 1961).
Give us the man of integrity, on whom we know we can thoroughly depend; who will stand firm when others fail; the friend, faithful and true; the adviser, honest and fearless; the adversary, just and chivalrous; such an one is a fragment of the Rock of Ages. -----J. P. Stanley
I am speaking the truth in Christ ---- I am not lying, my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.... (Romans 9:1).
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God (II Corinthians 4:1-2).
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart (Psalm 86:11).
A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Teach Me, O Lord, Thy Holy Way(William T. Matson, 1866).
Seeking empties a life; giving fills it. ---- Anonymous
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, "He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." (II Corinthians 9:6-9).
Satan, the great adversary, directs all his energy to prevent men becoming the subject of that illumination of which the gospel, as the revelation of the glory of Christ, is the source.----Charles Hodge.
In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (II Corinthians 4:4).
When Christ takes the burden of guilt off a sinner's shoulders He places the yoke of obedience upon his neck. ---- Anonymous
Justification supplies the only efficient motive to obedience. ---- Ernest F. Kevan
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:5).
....God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.... (II Corinthians 5:19).
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies. Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. (Psalms 119: 6, 59, 128).
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them (Ezekiel 36:27).
A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Trust and Obey.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way....
True repentance consists in the heart being broken for sin and broken from sin. Some often repent, yet never reform; they resemble a man travelling in a dangerous path, who frequently starts and stops, but never turns back. ---- Bonnell Thornton
To do so no more is truest repentance. --- Martin Luther
By it [repentance], a sinner...so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in all the ways of His commandments. ---- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter XV
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the LORD God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions... (Ezekiel 18:30-31).
"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD , your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster (Joel 2:12-13).
For what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! (II Corinthians 7:11).
A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: God Be Merciful Unto Me
Sanctification. How wonderfully does the new-born soul differ from his former self. He lives a new life, he walks in a new way, he steers his course by a new compass and towards a new coast. His principle is new, his pattern is new, his practices are new, his projects are new, all is new. He ravels out all he had woven before, and employs himself wholly about another work. George Swinnocke. (1660)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (II Corinthians 5:17).
A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: JESUS CALLS US
Jesus calls us o'er the tumult
of our life's wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
saying, "Christian, follow me!"
Sympathy. God does not comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters. ---- J. H. Jowett.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3-4).
A hymn to read or sing or hum to the glory of God: BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS.
Afflictions and Trials. All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of His saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious and full of countless griefs. ---- John Calvin.
Where there is grace there will be a conflict. ---- J. C. Ryle.
....as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left, through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything (II Corinthians 6:4-10).
A hymn to read, sing or hum to the glory of God: "TAKE UP YOUR CROSS," THE SAVIOR SAID.
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. --- unknown
But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (II Corinthians 12:9).
The things you have heard me say....entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (II Timothy 2:2).
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A hymn to read or sing aloud, and to offer to God in worship: LORD, SPEAK TO ME THAT I MAY SPEAK.
Godliness...is devotion to God which results in a life that is pleasing to Him ---- Jerry Bridges.
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty" (II Corinthians 6:16-19).
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (II Corinthians 7:1).
A hymn to be read or sung aloud and offered to God in worship: TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY.
GENEROSITY. A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave the more he had. ---- John Bunyan.
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse(Proverbs 28:27).
...give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you(Luke 6:38).
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (II Corinthians 9:6).
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A hymn to read or sing aloud to the glory of God: LORD, THOU LOV'ST THE CHEERFUL GIVER
