Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

Growing up in rocky soil

"A theologian who also knew something about gardening once said, "The nipping frosts of trial and affliction are ofttimes needed if God's trees are to grow.  They need the cold to revive and bud."  What is true for crocuses is true for people.... Do you feel the nipping frost of loneliness?  Are you experiencing the biting cold of persecution?  For you, it could be the icy sting of rejection or the numbing chill of heartache.  Just as flower bulbs need the nipping frost to revive and blossom, hardships have a way of helping peace and joy blossom in your life.  Patience can flower out of failure, and self-control or kindness can bud out of brokenness."

-Joni Eareckson Tada

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:18 | link | comments |
quotes i love, faith and feelings

The stuff that dreams are made of

Boundless Webzine has published a powerful and very personal article by author George Halitzka about how fantasy measures up to reality. He talks about how he used his imagination to escape from boring or unpleasant situations and how that affected his relationships with people he desperately wanted to connect with. This article is a very good read and brings up some interesting questions about love, work, and friendship. So, I've posted a tiny excerpt below to whet your appetite, but be sure to click over and check out the whole thing.

-Joy

Excerpt from "Virtual Reality"

by George Halitzka

"When life is less than you expected and ideals are broken on the ground, most people turn to comforting delusions. When it wasn't supposed to turn out this way (but it has), impossible daydreams make the grind more bearable. Anything to distance us from the harsh, unrelenting world.

In daydreams and soap operas, the mother of a newborn escapes into fairy-tale romances. She thought her life would be full once she had a husband and kid, but she's still lonely. So she dreams about a picture-perfect soul mate; the prince who'll help her feel beyond the emptiness. Her husband can't turn away from the pictures on his computer and the hot blonde two cubicles down at work. They're much more interesting than the wife who's "too tired."

Maybe you're an internet gamer who finds virtual reality to be more satisfying than the original. You're a single serial romancer who's always in a new relationship. You're workaholic who takes 16-hour days like pain pills, because you know this next success is the one that'll finally "complete" you....

But by now, the impossible dreams have their tentacles wrapped a thousand times around your heart, and fantasy is your prison. Dreams are not the enemy! Imagination is God's gift, a holy treasure. Creations of the mind only become perverse when they isolate...."

 

Click HERE to finish this great article

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:28 | link | comments |

God's law and God's grace

"Our lives are to be under the rule (the dominion) of God's will revealed in
His word. When we are disobedient to God's will, sin is dominating our lives. The Lord certainly wants us to get out from under the domination of sin and to live obediently. The only path for such liberation is the grace of God. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Man might think that the law could free us from the dominating influence of sin. If we had laws with radical standards and severe consequences, surely man would not go on sinning. Of course, this approach does not work. No standards are as lofty as the holy law of God. No consequences are more severe than violating God's law;  yet, men still are dominated by sin. Grace is God's remedy."

-Bob Hoekstra

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:42 | link | comments |
amazing grace

Wednesday quote mix

“If God is a reality, and the soul is a reality, and you are an immortal being, what are you doing with your Bible shut?”

-- Herrik Johnson

 

 

“God delights in showing us His power through weak and unlikely people.  He specializes in irony, always choosing a combination of circumstances opposite to what one might expect in order to get the job done.  There are plenty of ironies in your life, and each one is a reason to give God praise.  His power always is best displayed through weakness.”

-Joni Eareckson Tada

posted by: Jrobbins at 20:12 | link | comments |
quotes i love

Memory and thankfulness

"We are to remember the courageous members of our armed forces—past and present—who have died in military service to their country. We're speaking of grandparents, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, and grandchildren who have taken the oath to defend their country and protect the Constitution.

That doesn't mean you have to necessarily agree with every military engagement our country has undertaken in times past—or is engaged in at present. What it does mean is that you are to remember those who have committed themselves to protect you, or even made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Such sacrifices make possible the freedoms we so richly enjoy and hold dear."

-Pastor Greg Laurie

 

 

 

"God of the brave that sought Thy aid,
And in Thy robe of strength arrayed,
They won for us beneath Thy care,
The flag we prize, the peace we share,
O Lord, defend our nation yet,
Nor let our hearts Thy Name forget;
O Lord, defend our nation yet,
Nor let our hearts Thy Name forget."

-Fanny Crosby

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:29 | link | comments |

What forgiveness really means

“How many sins has He freed us from? All of them. You say, “Even mine?” Yes. Even yours; even mine—the ones everyone knows about, the sins no one knows about.

And He has “made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (verse 6).

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation”

(Revelation 5:9-10).

From Jericho, from the Canaanites, from whatever town you’ve come from, from whatever your background—out of all these people, God has ransomed a people for Himself by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

You shall tie this scarlet cord in your window.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war (Revelation 19:11).

He is a God of war. He is a God who is angry with the wicked. But, He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God (verse 13).

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

First John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin” —all sin, all sin, all sin. The blood of Jesus Christ.

Tie this scarlet cord in your window.”

 

-Nancy Leigh DeMoss

from her radio program

“Entirely Forgiven”

(Click HERE to listen or read the

transcript from this program!)

posted by: Jrobbins at 20:40 | link | comments |
quotes i love

The Christ-driven life

"The whole of our life is to be His, as His life was for us. Surely He has earned this, if He has earned anything at all. The least that we can give Him is our life; the undivided service of our being, in every part; in our doing, in our speaking, in our planning, and in all our daily round of business, so that every part of our life shall be a witness-bearing for Him."

—Horatius Bonar

posted by: Jrobbins at 02:14 | link | comments |
quotes i love

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