“Some had thought it strange that a young man with his opportunities for success should choose to spend his life in the jungles among primitive people. Jim’s answer, found in his diary, had been written a year before: ‘My going to Ecuador is God’s counsel, as is my leaving Betty, and my refusal to be counseled by all who insist I should stay and stir up the believers in the US. And how do I know it is His counsel? ‘Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons.’ Oh, how good! For I have known my heart is speaking to me for God! …No visions, no voices, but the counsel of a heart which desires God.’”
“We have arrived at the destination decided on in 1950. My joy is full. Oh how blind it would have been to reject the leading of these days. How it has changed the course of life for me and added such a host of joys!”
“At twenty-six years how good God has been and how full and blessed His ways. How continually I thank God for bringing me here, almost overcoming the impossible and pushing me out. I felt ‘thrust out’ and how grateful I am for God’s impelling.”
“The ruts are worn deep and it won’t be easy to change habits and give up the lost ground or let it be gained by the Lord. But surely it will be worth the battle. My mind was made only to love Him; my body, also, which includes my tongue in all its activities. How slow some of us are to learn.”
“I will be led and taught of the Holy Spirit. God desires full development, use and activity of our faculties. The Holy Spirit can and will guide me in direct proportion to the time and effort I will expend to know and do the will of God. I must read the Bible to know God’s will. At every point I will obey and do.”
“Lord, God, speak to my own heart and give me to know Thy Holy will and the joy of walking in it. Amen.”
“Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth! I care not if I never raise my voice again for Him, if only I may love Him, please Him. Mayhap in mercy He shall give me a host of children that I may lead them through the cast star fields to explore His delicacies whose finger ends set them to burning. But if not, if only I may see Him, touch His garments, and smile into His eyes – ah then, not stars nor children shall matter, only Himself.”
“O Jesus, Master and Center and End of all, how long before that Glory is thine which has so long waited Thee? Now there is no thought of Thee among men; then there shall be thought for nothing else. Now other men are praised; then none shall care for any other’s merits. Hasten, hasten, Glory of Heaven, take Thy crown, subdue They Kingdom, enthrall Thy creatures.”
“God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”
“God is the God of human history, and He is at work continuously, mysteriously, accomplishing His eternal purposes in us, through us, for us, and in spite of us.”
“It is not the level of our spirituality that we can depend on. It is God and nothing less than God, for the work is God’s and the call is God’s and everything is summoned by Him and to His purposes, the whole scene, the whole mess, the whole package – our bravery and our cowardice, our love and our selfishness, our strengths and our weaknesses.”
“We are not always sure where the horizon is. We would not know which end is up were it not for the shimmering pathway of light falling on the white sea. The One who laid earth’s foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and for obedience.”
1.26.2009
"Mystery of Providence" by John Flavel
Notes takes from the first five chapters -- it's so great!
"Crying unto God is an expression that denotes not only prayer, but intense and fervent prayer. To cry is to pray in a holy passion; and such are usually speeding prayers."
"Providence not only undertakes but perfects what concerns us. It goes through with its designs, and accomplishes what it begins. No difficulty so dogs it, no cross accident falls in its way, but it carries its design through it. Its motions are irresistible and uncontrollable; He performs it for us."
"O how ravishing and delectable a sight will it be to behold at one view the whole design of Providence, and the proper place and use of every single act, which we could not understand in this world!"
Speaking of the work of conversion... "This, O this, is the most excellent benefit you ever received from [Providence's] hand. You are more indebted to it for this, than for all other mercies. And in explaining this performance of Providence, I cannot but think your hearts must be deeply affected. This is a subject which every gracious heart loves to steep its thoughts in. It is certainly the sweetest history that ever they repeated; they love to think and talk of it."
"Ascribe to God the glory of all those providential works which yield you comfort. You see a wise, directing, governing Providence, which has disposed and ordered all things beyond your own plans and designs: 'The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps' (Jer. 10.23). Not what you planned, but what a higher counsel than yours determines to come to pass."
"The wisdom of Providence in our provisions. And this is seen in proportioning the quantity, not satisfying our extravagant wishes, but answering our real needs; consulting our wants, not our wantonness. ...Wise Providence considers our conditions as pilgrims and strangers, and so allots the provision that is needful for our passage home."
"The wisdom of Providence is also greatly revealed in the manner of dispensing our portion to us. It many times allows our wants to pinch hard, and many fears to arise, with a design to magnify the care and love of God in the supply (Deut. 8.3). Providence so orders the case, that faith and prayer come between our wants and supplies, and the goodness of God may be the more magnified in our eyes thereby."
"Do not murmur and complain under new straits. This is a vile temper, and yet how natural to us when wants press hard upon us! Ah, did we but rightly understand what the demerit of sin is, we would rather admire the bounty of God than complain for the straithandedness of Providence. And if we did but consider that there lies upon God no obligation of justice or gratitude to reward any of our duties, it would cure our murmurs (Gen. 32.10). ...Do not show the least discontent at the lot and portion Providence carves out for you. O that you would be well pleased and satisfied with all its appointments!"
"Crying unto God is an expression that denotes not only prayer, but intense and fervent prayer. To cry is to pray in a holy passion; and such are usually speeding prayers."
"Providence not only undertakes but perfects what concerns us. It goes through with its designs, and accomplishes what it begins. No difficulty so dogs it, no cross accident falls in its way, but it carries its design through it. Its motions are irresistible and uncontrollable; He performs it for us."
"O how ravishing and delectable a sight will it be to behold at one view the whole design of Providence, and the proper place and use of every single act, which we could not understand in this world!"
Speaking of the work of conversion... "This, O this, is the most excellent benefit you ever received from [Providence's] hand. You are more indebted to it for this, than for all other mercies. And in explaining this performance of Providence, I cannot but think your hearts must be deeply affected. This is a subject which every gracious heart loves to steep its thoughts in. It is certainly the sweetest history that ever they repeated; they love to think and talk of it."
"Ascribe to God the glory of all those providential works which yield you comfort. You see a wise, directing, governing Providence, which has disposed and ordered all things beyond your own plans and designs: 'The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps' (Jer. 10.23). Not what you planned, but what a higher counsel than yours determines to come to pass."
"The wisdom of Providence in our provisions. And this is seen in proportioning the quantity, not satisfying our extravagant wishes, but answering our real needs; consulting our wants, not our wantonness. ...Wise Providence considers our conditions as pilgrims and strangers, and so allots the provision that is needful for our passage home."
"The wisdom of Providence is also greatly revealed in the manner of dispensing our portion to us. It many times allows our wants to pinch hard, and many fears to arise, with a design to magnify the care and love of God in the supply (Deut. 8.3). Providence so orders the case, that faith and prayer come between our wants and supplies, and the goodness of God may be the more magnified in our eyes thereby."
"Do not murmur and complain under new straits. This is a vile temper, and yet how natural to us when wants press hard upon us! Ah, did we but rightly understand what the demerit of sin is, we would rather admire the bounty of God than complain for the straithandedness of Providence. And if we did but consider that there lies upon God no obligation of justice or gratitude to reward any of our duties, it would cure our murmurs (Gen. 32.10). ...Do not show the least discontent at the lot and portion Providence carves out for you. O that you would be well pleased and satisfied with all its appointments!"
1.23.2009
a new recipe
cooked ziti pasta
olive oil (whatever suits you, i prefer light)
minced garlic (i like the kind that comes prepared in the jar usually found by the produce)
1/2 large white or yellow onion, chopped
salt & fresh cracked pepper
red pepper flakes
3 cups fresh spinach
1 or 2 roma tomatoes (more meat, less juice, my fav.), chopped
herbs de provance (did i spell that correctly?)
fresh grated parmesan cheese (don't use the shelf powdered kind. also, romano or asiago might also be a good choice of cheese but i haven't tried that yet.)
coat a skillet with olive oil, you want enough to be able to just coat all the pasta. add the minced garlic to the oil and let it heat up. add the chopped onion to the pan, it should sizzle when it hits the oil. add salt and pepper, you don't need a lot of salt since the cheese will have its own. add red pepper flakes for your own amount of kick. let the onion just begin to caramelize before adding the spinach. you only want the spinach to wilt enough to be limp, not like steamed spinach or creamed spinach. then add the the chopped tomatoes, you only want these to just get a little heat and flavor from the oil. toss with the cooked ziti pasta. add a few pinches of herbs de provance and 1/4-1/2 cup of cheese. toss together and serve. delicious.
olive oil (whatever suits you, i prefer light)
minced garlic (i like the kind that comes prepared in the jar usually found by the produce)
1/2 large white or yellow onion, chopped
salt & fresh cracked pepper
red pepper flakes
3 cups fresh spinach
1 or 2 roma tomatoes (more meat, less juice, my fav.), chopped
herbs de provance (did i spell that correctly?)
fresh grated parmesan cheese (don't use the shelf powdered kind. also, romano or asiago might also be a good choice of cheese but i haven't tried that yet.)
coat a skillet with olive oil, you want enough to be able to just coat all the pasta. add the minced garlic to the oil and let it heat up. add the chopped onion to the pan, it should sizzle when it hits the oil. add salt and pepper, you don't need a lot of salt since the cheese will have its own. add red pepper flakes for your own amount of kick. let the onion just begin to caramelize before adding the spinach. you only want the spinach to wilt enough to be limp, not like steamed spinach or creamed spinach. then add the the chopped tomatoes, you only want these to just get a little heat and flavor from the oil. toss with the cooked ziti pasta. add a few pinches of herbs de provance and 1/4-1/2 cup of cheese. toss together and serve. delicious.
1.20.2009
1.14.2009
1.02.2009
"A Thousand Splendid Suns"
I read Khaled Hosseini's second book. Excellent. Excellent. What can I say? I liked it better than the first, perhaps because there's no talk of redemption, false redemption. It simply is the story. Excellent.
excerpts from "The Shack"
"There are times when you choose to believe something that would normally be considered absolutely irrational. It doesn't mean that it is actually irrational, but it surely is not rational. Perhaps there is suprarationality: reason beyond the normal definitions of fact or data-based logic; something that only makes sense if you can see a bigger picture of reality. Maybe that is where faith fits in."
Talking about man's freedom... "Or, if you want to go just a wee bit deeper, we could talk about the nature of freedom itself. Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do? Or we could talk about all the limited influences in your life that actively work against your freedom. Your family genetic heritage, your specific DNA, your metabolic uniqueness, the quantum stuff that is going on at a subatomic level where only I am the always-present observer. Or the intrusion of your soul's sickness that inhibites and binds you, or the social influences around you, or the habits that have created synaptic bonds and pathways in your brain. And there there's advertising, propaganda, and paradigms. Inside that confluence of multifaceted inhibitors... what is freedom really?"
Talking about man's freedom... "Or, if you want to go just a wee bit deeper, we could talk about the nature of freedom itself. Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do? Or we could talk about all the limited influences in your life that actively work against your freedom. Your family genetic heritage, your specific DNA, your metabolic uniqueness, the quantum stuff that is going on at a subatomic level where only I am the always-present observer. Or the intrusion of your soul's sickness that inhibites and binds you, or the social influences around you, or the habits that have created synaptic bonds and pathways in your brain. And there there's advertising, propaganda, and paradigms. Inside that confluence of multifaceted inhibitors... what is freedom really?"
1.01.2009
Blessings in 2009!!
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" (Isaiah 43:1b). "You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?" (Isaiah 43:10-13).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
