Something to think about...

You Cannot Sneak into Heaven without a Cross

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

Samuel Rutherford

"If your Lord calls you to suffering, do not be dismayed, for he will provide a deeper portion of Christ in your suffering. The softest pillow will be placed under your head though you must set your bare feet among thorns. Do not be afraid at suffering for Christ, for he has a sweet peace for a sufferer. God has called you to Christ's side, and if the wind is now in his face, you cannot expect to rest on the sheltered side of the hill. You cannot be above your Master who received many an innocent stroke.

The greatest temptation out of hell is to live without trials. A pool of standing water will turn stagnant. Faith grows more with the sharp winter storm in its face. Grace withers without adversity. You can't sneak quietly into heaven without a cross. Crosses form us into his image. They cut away the pieces of our corruption. Lord cut, carve, wound; Lord do anything to perfect your image in us and make us fit for glory.

We need winnowing before we enter the kingdom of God. O what I owe to the file, hammer, and furnace! Why should I be surprised at the plough that makes such deep furrows in my soul? Whatever direction the wind blows, it will blow us to the Lord. His hand will direct us safely to the heavenly shore to find the weight of eternal glory.

As we look back to our pains and sufferings, we shall see that suffering is not worthy to be compared to our first night's welcome home in heaven. If we could smell of heaven and our country above, our crosses would not bite us. Lay all your loads by faith on Christ, ease yourself, and let him bear all. He can, he does, and he will bear you. Whether God comes with a rod or a crown, he comes with himself. 'Have courage, I am your salvation!' Welcome, welcome Jesus!"

– Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ
(c. 1600 – 30 March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian Pastor, Theologian and Author, and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.

The King is in the Audience

"The King is in the Audience"

The scene is a theatre in England . The audience, chatting amiably, drifts to their seats. The orchestra, in starched shirts and tuxedos, is tuning its instruments. Stagehands scurry behind huge and heavy curtains, checking props and ropes, making last minute adjustments. Finally, the lights lower. At the top of the director’s baton the orchestra swings softly into a familiar overture. Suddenly, the orchestra is interrupted awkwardly in the middle of a musical phrase. A deathly silence follows as music sheets are quietly switched. Then comes the swelling strains of the national anthem. In the wings, the stage manager and the director run from actor to actor whispering excitedly, “Give it all you’ve got tonight! Play as you’ve never played before!” “Why?” the anxious question is asked. “Because,” comes the reply, “King George has just come in. The King is in the audience!”

The King of Kings and the Lord or Lords is always in the audience of our lives, and with us as we meet in congregations, whether that be two or twenty, on a Sunday or a Wednesday.  Because of this we must live life with all we’ve got; the best we’ve got. We must “play as we’ve never played before.”

Taken from:
"Daily Vitamins for Spiritual Growth – Fr. Anthony Coniaris"



Knowing God, J.I. Packer

"Knowing God involves, first, listening to God's Word and receiving it as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God's nature and character, as His Word and works reveal it; third, accepting His invitations and doing what He commands.; fourth, recognizing and rejoicing in the love that He has shown in thus approaching you and drawing you into this divine fellowship."

From the book Knowing God, by J.I. Packer, pg.37

What Matters....J.I. Packer

"What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which 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 on 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, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters.


This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. 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 now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.

There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and I am glad!), and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and have given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. We cannot work these thoughts out here, but merely to mention them is enough to show how much it means to know not merely that we know God, but that He knows us."

Knowing God, by J.I. Packer, pages 41-42

He who thinks of God ... J.I. Packer

"He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe."

"The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it is disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul."

J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pages 18 & 19

If our sin .... Dan Allender

“If our sin is mere failure to conform-simply a mistake to do what is right---forgiveness is really the granting of an opportunity to try again. In that light, it is like forgetting to finish one’s homework. We deserve a low grace, and grace becomes merely the privilege of doing it over to get a higher mark. Such a view of grace might generate appreciation, but it would never drive us to worship. If, in fact, sin is not only failure to hit the mark of God’s perfection, but also a deep, insidious energy that desires to eradicate from our existence an affronting God who demands perfection, then forgiveness becomes breathtaking, incredible, and wonderfully insulting.”

Dan Allender, “Bold Love”

Life as a journey ... Oz Guinness

"For those who live life as a journey and see faith as a journey, calling has an obvious implication. It reminds us that we are all at different stages on the way and none of us alive has yet arrived. Trouble comes when we forget this fact and pretend that life is static and settled, as if everything were a matter of sharp lines, clear boundaries, precise labels, and final assessments. So that some are in, some out; some have arrived, others not.

When mighty Rome was sacked in A.D. 410 by Alaric's barbarians, Augustine jotted down the observation that the seeming permanence of a city was sought by unfaithful Cain, not faithful Abel. "The true city of the saints is in heaven," he wrote in The City of God. Here on earth Christians travel "as on a pilgrimage through time looking for the Kingdom of Eternity."

"Certainly we who follow Christ know why we have lost our original home. We know the home to which we are going. And we know not only the One who awaits us there, who makes it home, but also the One who goes with us on our journey. But we are still on a journey, and we are truly travelers. We are not wanderers, but we are wayfarers. We have discovered that He is the way, but we are still on the road. Our faith is a pilgrim faith essentially at odds with place and settlement....

Calling reminds us that, recognizing all the different stages people are at, there are many more who are followers of Jesus and on the Way than we realize. To forget this and insist that everyone be as we, at the same stage and with the same stories as ours, is to be a Christian Pharisee...."

Taken from the book, The Call, by Os Guinness, pages 112, 113

Temptation to sin ... J.C. Ryle

"We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself in its true colors. Never when we are tempted will we hear sin say to us, "I am your deadly enemy ... I want to ruin your life." That's not how it works. Sin, instead, comes to us like Judas with a kiss ... But we cannot alter its nature and character in the sight of God."

J.C. Ryle