Transitory Life March 12, 2009
Posted by Ivan in Notable Quotes.add a comment
Do you ever have those moments when you’re reading a book and a few words just stick out and grab hold of your heart? Well, that happened last night as I was reading a short biography on a pastor.
What is man apart from the grace of God! How transitory is the longest life!
This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered a saying with the same thrust. We all realize the shortness of this life and the fact that without the grace of God we would be reduced to ashes, not even worthy of pity. Those words gripped me and I began meditating on that truth. And what a truth it is! May I be sobered up to the reality that soon my life will end . . . and only what I’ve done for Christ and His Kingdom will last unto eternity.
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P.S. – The quote is by Iain Murray in Truth Endures.
Strong Men February 12, 2009
Posted by Ivan in Notable Quotes, Preaching.add a comment
Here’s a quote from Steven Lawson’s book, Foundations of Grace.
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“Strong men always proclaim a strong message. They do not read the polls and check the surveys before they give their opinions. In fact, they do not even have opinions—they have convictions. They bleed convictions. They are strong men anchored in the strong Word of God, and, as such, they bring a message with gravitas and punch. When they stand to speak, they actually have something to say—and they say it, whether anyone listens or not. When they sit to write, they do not skirt the issues—they tackle them. When they address the times in which they live, they do not tickle ears—they box them. They do not have one message for one group and a different message for a different group. Wherever they go and whomever they address, they have only one message— God’s message. This is what makes them strong men. They speak God’s Word, or they do not speak at all.”
Puritan Prayers Rock! February 6, 2009
Posted by Ivan in Notable Quotes, Prayer.3 comments
A while ago my pastor got me a book. It’s actually a collection of puritan prayers called The Valley of Vision. Being a bit skeptical, I didn’t think this would be very helpful. “Prayer has to be spontaneous,” I thought.
Over the past few months I have benefited so much by these prayers of old. It’s so often the case that our own prayers can be so shallow and monotonous and dry. As I thought about it, I kept thinking back to the psalms. The Psalter was the worship manual of the people God. And then I began to think about the songs we sing in church. An individual wrote them and then musical notes were added to them and then we get sing them. In fact, we memorize many of them. So, all that to say that there’s nothing wrong in repeating something. These collection of old prayers have deepened my own prayer before God.
Here’s one short prayer that has become my prayer over and over again as I press onward in this race of faith.
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A Disciple’s Renewal
O my Saviour,
Help me.
I am so slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
take the scales from my eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John upon thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace so that there may be
more decision in my character,
more vigour in my purposes,
more elevation in my life,
more fervour in my devotion,
more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature
what can be found only in the creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me, thou king of kings and lord of lords,
that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end.
Knowing God: God Knows Me! August 16, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Gospel, Notable Quotes, Spiritual Growth.2 comments
“What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact that underlies it—the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands; I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends of His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him because He first knew me and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend. . . . There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery can now disillusion Him about me.”
- J.I. Packer
I came across this quote by J.I. Packer a while ago in his classic Knowing God and it has resonated with me ever since. What great comfort it is to know that God knows me. He knows me as I am. He knows my constant wayward heart. He knows my ever-failing obedience. He knows me as no individual would ever be able to know me (including my mom). He sees my every sin. And you know what the amazing part is? Despite His perfect knowledge of me, God, in His sheer mercy and grace laid down His life on the cross for men such as I to crucify Him with the nails of our sins.
Whenever I read 1 John in my quiet times, I cannot help but stop and linger on, “We love, because he first loved us” (4:19). Our love for God and others is based on His initial love for us. I am always dumbfounded by this statement. What a glorious truth to ponder!
