The Way Things Are

Have faith that He knows all, sympathizes with all, can rectify what is amiss in all! Have faith in the outworking of His beneficent purpose: that the ruin will become a magnificent pile; the desert will blossom into a garden. Have faith in God. Keep close to Him - His side, His will - and He will teach us the true thing, the right way. Have faith that God knows, and we shall know by and by, why things are as they are.

Springs In The Valley, Mrs. Charles Cowman

The Best Place

With infinite care and forethought God has chosen the best place in which you can do your best work for the world. You may be lonely, but you have no more right to complain than the lamp has, which has been placed in a niche to illuminate a dark landing or a flight of dangerous stone steps. The master of the house may have put you in a very small corner and on a very humble stand; but it is enough if it be His blessed will. 

Springs In The Valley, Cowman

Successful Christianity

I hope that you are as profoundly disturbed as I am by this new definition of "successful" Christianity. Do you get the uncomfortable feeling that God is being used? The self-centeredness of our culture spawns a self-centered religion. The most common question in evangelism today is, "What can Jesus do for me?" Potential converts are told that Jesus can make them happier, better adjusted and more prosperous. Jesus quickly becomes the supreme product, attractively packaged and aggressively sold to a consuming public.

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning

Rescuing women from sexual exploitation in Atlanta

In the state of Georgia alone, approximately 250 girls are recruited into prostitution on a monthly basis. Many of these girls end up in Atlanta which has a significant sexual exploitation industry. But Redeemed Love, an Atlanta based organization, is working to stop all that. Dedicated to rescuing women and girls out of prostitution, their mission is to provide victims a new life free of sexual exploitation.

One driving force behind Atlanta's sexual exploitation industry lies in the transient nature of the city. As one of the busiest airports in the world, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport draws in many "buyers" of sexual services. Another factor contributing to the rise of sexual exploitation in Atlanta is the number of major events and conventions held in the area. 

Read More Here.

Rest

What is rest? To step out of self-life into Christ-life; to lie still, and let Him lift you out of it; to fold your hands close, and hide your face on the hem of His garment; to let Him lay his cooling, soothing, healing hands upon your soul, and draw all the hurry and fever from its veins; to realize that you are not a mighty messenger, an important worker of His, full of care and responsibility, but only a little child, with a Father's gentle bidding to heed and fulfill; to lay your busy plans and ambitions confidently in His hands, as a child brings its broken toys at its mother's call... to cease to hurry, so you may not lose sight of His face; to learn to follow Him, and not to run ahead of orders; to cease to live in self and for self, and to live in Him and for Him; to love His honor more than your own; to be a clear medium for His life-tide to shine and glow through. This is consecration, this is rest.

Springs In The Valley

Choosing Gratitude

Even in the most turbulent waters, choosing gratitude rescues me from myself and my runaway emotions. It buoys me on the grace of God and keeps me from drowning in what otherwise would be my natural bent toward doubt, negativity, discouragement, and anxiety.

Over time, choosing gratitude meanings choosing joy. But that choice doesn't come without effort and intentionality. It's a choice that requires constantly renewing my mind with the truth of God's Word, setting my heart to savor God and His gifts, and disciplining my tongue to speak words that reflect His goodness and grace - until a grateful spirit becomes my reflexive response to all of life. 

Choosing Gratitude, Nancy Leigh DeMoss

This Week

Try as I might to come up with something, I am fresh out of blog material. Or maybe I just don't have the energy to sit and write write write these days. There are a lot of things I am pondering over and meditating on that I could translate into article form, but I am just struggling with doing so right now.

I have been reading a lovely new book Choosing Gratitude that I would highly recommend. I will comment more on it later or post a review, but in the meantime, if you need something convicting or something to help you refocus, it is a great book.

The Journey of Our Lives

The journey of our lives is a double journey. There is an outward journey into external confrontations, discoveries, and relationships, and there is an inner journey into self-knowledge and the discovery of what constitutes my individual self-expression, self-fulfillment, freedom, and contentment within. For the Christian, the outward journey takes the form of learning to relate positively and purposefully to the world and other people (to all God's creatures) for God the Creator's sake, and the inward journey takes the form of gaining and deepening our acquaintance with God himself and with Jesus the Son.

In God's Presence, JI Packer