Great thoughts, and we are praying for you in your discouraging time.
From Martin Luther re. Galatians 2:19, as translated by Theodore Graebner on Project Gutenberg's site -
"By faith in Christ a person may gain such sure and sound comfort, that he need not fear the devil, sin, death, or any evil. "Sir Devil," he may say, "I am not afraid of you. I have a Friend whose name is Jesus Christ, in whom I believe. He has abolished the Law, condemned sin, vanquished death, and destroyed hell for me. He is bigger than you, Satan. He has licked you and holds you down. You cannot hurt me." This is the faith that overcomes the devil."
Re. the comments on society & the headlong rush to destruction - the prophet Sting once worded it well: "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes, contestants in a suicidal race."
Hey, if God can use Balaam's beast, King Cyrus or me, he can use anyone to speak a nugget of truth.
I appreciate the quote, brother, and I appreciate the prayers even more. I think my soul was just needing a dip in a cold creek on a rainy day, and I’m praising the Lord for providing that!
This life seems to be discouragement after discouragement yet as you have pointed out Gods promises hold true. In reading this post I am reminded of Johnathan Edwards who said “none can hurt those who are true lovers of God.” The more men love God, the more they will place all their happiness in God; they will look on God as their all, and this happiness and portion is what men cannot touch.” I got this quote from Dane C. Ortlund’s book on Edward’s and he sights this quote as coming from a collection of Edward’s works so I’m not sure exactly where it comes from but it hit me hard as I often find myself getting discouraged and disappointed by this world yet the true treasure, that one that is more valuable than anything else in this life is the relationship with God that we have received through Christs work. Your post reinvigorated that desire to care less about this world and to find my true happiness in God. I hope Edward’s can be an encouragement to you as much as he has been to me.
Thank you for sharing those thoughts, Jacob, and I haven’t read Edwards in a LONG time, probably something like nineteen years, so I appreciate you refreshing my memory on his work. I glean encouragement from the Psalms of David and Asaph, and from prophets like Habakkuk and Elijah and John the Baptizer, and from apostles like Thomas and Peter, who reveal through their transparent prayers the encouraging fact that “even youths grow weary, and even young men grow tired and feint, but those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength: they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”
Renewal is a precious, much needed work of The Spirit. We will get tired and weary and discouraged, as you wisely point out. Which is why I love David’s refrain to that feeble human propensity: “though a man stumble, he will not fall headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”
Great thoughts, and we are praying for you in your discouraging time.
From Martin Luther re. Galatians 2:19, as translated by Theodore Graebner on Project Gutenberg's site -
"By faith in Christ a person may gain such sure and sound comfort, that he need not fear the devil, sin, death, or any evil. "Sir Devil," he may say, "I am not afraid of you. I have a Friend whose name is Jesus Christ, in whom I believe. He has abolished the Law, condemned sin, vanquished death, and destroyed hell for me. He is bigger than you, Satan. He has licked you and holds you down. You cannot hurt me." This is the faith that overcomes the devil."
Re. the comments on society & the headlong rush to destruction - the prophet Sting once worded it well: "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes, contestants in a suicidal race."
Hey, if God can use Balaam's beast, King Cyrus or me, he can use anyone to speak a nugget of truth.
I appreciate the quote, brother, and I appreciate the prayers even more. I think my soul was just needing a dip in a cold creek on a rainy day, and I’m praising the Lord for providing that!
This life seems to be discouragement after discouragement yet as you have pointed out Gods promises hold true. In reading this post I am reminded of Johnathan Edwards who said “none can hurt those who are true lovers of God.” The more men love God, the more they will place all their happiness in God; they will look on God as their all, and this happiness and portion is what men cannot touch.” I got this quote from Dane C. Ortlund’s book on Edward’s and he sights this quote as coming from a collection of Edward’s works so I’m not sure exactly where it comes from but it hit me hard as I often find myself getting discouraged and disappointed by this world yet the true treasure, that one that is more valuable than anything else in this life is the relationship with God that we have received through Christs work. Your post reinvigorated that desire to care less about this world and to find my true happiness in God. I hope Edward’s can be an encouragement to you as much as he has been to me.
Thank you for sharing those thoughts, Jacob, and I haven’t read Edwards in a LONG time, probably something like nineteen years, so I appreciate you refreshing my memory on his work. I glean encouragement from the Psalms of David and Asaph, and from prophets like Habakkuk and Elijah and John the Baptizer, and from apostles like Thomas and Peter, who reveal through their transparent prayers the encouraging fact that “even youths grow weary, and even young men grow tired and feint, but those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength: they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”
Renewal is a precious, much needed work of The Spirit. We will get tired and weary and discouraged, as you wisely point out. Which is why I love David’s refrain to that feeble human propensity: “though a man stumble, he will not fall headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”