If I am asked how we are to get rid of discouragement, I can only say, as I have had to say of so many other wrong spiritual habits, we must give it up. It is never worthwhile to argue against discouragement. There is only one argument that can meet it, and that is the argument of God. When David was in the midst of what were perhaps the most discouraging moments of his life, he found his city burned and his wives stolen. He and his men wept together until they had no more power to weep; and when his men, exasperated at their misfortunes, spoke of stoning him, then we are told, "But David found strength in the Lord His God." I Sam. 30:6. The result was a magnificent victory in which all that they had lost was more than restored to them. This always will be, and always must be, the result of a courageous faith, because faith lays hold of the omnipotence of God. (David did not) analyze his disquietude or try to argue it away, but turned at once to the Lord. It was (and is) the only way. Discouragement flies where faith appears. And in the same way, faith flies when discouragement appears. We must choose between them for they will not be mixed. Hannah Whitall Smith

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It is one thing to rest in God's blessings, and another thing to rest in Himself; it is one thing to trust God when I have before my eyes the channel through which the blessing is to flow, and quite another thing to trust Him when that channel is entirely stopped up. (In the case of Abraham's call to sacrifice Isaac)This was what proved the excellency of Abraham's faith. He showed that he could not merely trust God for an innumerable seed while Isaac stood before him in health and vigor, but just as fully if he were a smoking victim om the altar. This was a high order of confidence in God . . . it rested on one solid pedestal - namely, God Himself. "He accounted that God was able." He never accounted that Isaac was able. Isaac, without God, was nothing; God, without Isaac, was everything. C.H.Mackintosh

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Here again, God is no stopgap; God must be recognized at the center of life, not when we are at the end of our resources; it is God's will to be recognized in life, and not only when death comes; in health and vigor, and not only in suffering; in our activities, and not only in sin. The ground for this lies in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. He is the center of life . . . Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the efficacy of redemption, not by impressiveness of speech, not by wooing and winning, but by the sheer unaided power of God. Oswald Chambers

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Sometimes it is good for us to have troubles and hardships, for they often call us back to our own hearts. Once there, we know ourselves to be strangers in this world, and we know that we may not believe in anything that it has to offer. Sometimes it is good that we put up with people speaking against us, and sometimes it is good that we be thought of as bad and flawed, even when we do good things and have good intentions. Such troubles are often aids to humility, and they protect us from pride. Indeed, we are sometimes better at seeking God when people have nothing but bad things to say about us and when they refuse to give us credit for the good things we have done! That being the case, we should so root ourselves in God that we do not need to look for comfort anywhere else. Thomas A' Kempis

The most basic fact of this life is that a human is in the best shape he can possibly be in - regardless of physical considerations, financial considerations, material considerations, any and all other considerations - when he is as close to his God as he can possibly be. God engineers the circumstances of our lives in ways that will give us the best and most opportunities - if we will accept and make use of them - to have the most intimate relationship with Him on a day to day basis that is possible for us. St. Augustine was totally correct when he famously wrote: 'The soul of man is made for God and the soul of man cannot find peace until it finds it in God'. (Mounts paraphrase) Does God want us to hurt, cry, be broke, be hungry, be sick, die? No, no, no, no, no, and no! Will God allow or yes, even cause, catastrophes to happen if it gets our attention and causes us to bow in submission to Him, seeking His mercy and grace? Yes. The Word says that whom the Lord loves He disciplines.

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Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a person must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs us our life, and it is grace because it gives us the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of God's Son: 'you were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon God's Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer's distinction between Cheap and Costly grace is classic and well-known, but it always bears repeating and, more importantly, remembering and living out through God's strength.

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To those who seriously ask the question, How may we profit most, and grow wise unto salvation, by reading the Bible? I answer:

1. Deeply consider that it is your duty and interest to read the Holy Scriptures.

2. When you read, consider that it is God's Word which you read; and that his faithfulness is pledged to fulfill both its promises and threatenings.

3. Read the whole Bible, and read it in order; two chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New, daily if you can possible spare the time; and you will have more time than you are aware of . . .

4. Think that the eye of God is upon you while you are reading his Word; and read and hear it with that reverence with which you would hear God speak, were he to address you as he did the prophets and people of old, for, be assured, that he considers it as much his Word now as he did when he first spoke it. Adam Clarke

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If the Bible is about anything at all, it is about God having mercy on the pitiful plight of men, forgiving their sins and restoring their lives. Christ never resisted the truly repentant, but the Pharisees on the other hand could really get to Him. . . You don't want to be like the Pharisees. . . Do not fake a manifestation of the Spirit that isn't there. Have no confidence in your flesh. Just be real before Him. That's what He wants from you. That's what He wants from all of us. . . The way home is humility. Make no excuses. Rationalize nothing. Blame no one. Humble yourself. If you don't yet feel the sorrow that you know will be necessary, ask Him for it like a beggar asks for bread. Beth Moore

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In Matthew 11:28, Jesus made this offer to all mankind of all places of all times: 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' This applies not only to all the nuts and bolts of living and life, but it also applies to everything concerning our relationship with God. We are not to think that we must grind our teeth and work and sweat at trying to be obedient to God. No, we are to obediently rest who we are in who He is and allow Him - the potter - full access to make us - the clay - what He wants us to be. Dietrich Bonhoeffer shares this thought:

To be conformed to the image of Christ is not an ideal to be striven after. It is not as though we had to imitate him as well as we could. We cannot transform ourselves into his image; it is rather the form of Christ which seeks to be formed in us (Gal. 4:19), and to be manifested in us. Christ's work in us is not finished until he has perfected his own form in us. We must be assimilated to the form of Christ in its entirety, the form of Christ incarnate, crucified, and glorified. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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If it is better to love God than the world, surely also it is better to love God than sin. What is there in sin that any should love it? Sin is a debt. Does any man love to be in debt? Sin is a disease. will any man hug a disease? Will he love his plague sores? Sin is compared to leprosy. Sin is a misshapen monster: Lust makes a man brutish; malice makes him devilish. What is in sin to be loved? Sin is an enemy. It is compared to a serpent. It has four stings - shame, guilt, horror, death. Will a man love that which seeks his death? Surely then it is better to love God than sin.

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Sinners are prisoners, but they are prisoners of hope; their case is sad, but it is not desperate. Christ is the stronghold for them, a strong tower, in whom they may be safe and quiet from the fear of the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the assaults of the spiritual enemies. To Him they must turn by a lively faith; to Him they must flee and trust in His name.

Speaking of our salvation, the writer of the book of Hebrews shares: '. . . we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a (our) high priest forever.' Heb. 6:18-20 NIV

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Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy . . . Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again', and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore. G.K. Chesterton

What was it that Paul said? 'Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!' 2 Cor. 5:17 NIV

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As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. Luke 17:12-14 NIV

The last line of this verse, 'And as they went, they were cleansed,' is huge in understanding not only the gracious activity of God in the miraculous healing that took place in these leprous lives, but it is basic in understanding how spiritual victory ever comes in any situation at any time - only as obedience occurs is grace bestowed. Moses' staff was wood until the very second that in obedience to God he threw it on the ground in Pharaoh's presence and, as God said it would, it became a snake. Then, it remained a snake until, in obedience to God, Moses reached down and touched it and, as God said that it would, it became wood again. It wasn't until the priest's feet literally touched the waters of both the Red Sea and the Jordan river that the water parted for Israel to pass through. The walls of Jericho fell only as the people blew trumpets and shouted as God commanded. Over and over again the Bible shares that God shows Himself only as - present tense - people 'step out' to start to obey. Nobody obeys God in their own strength. But God will empower no one to obey Him in anything who is not willing to take the first step.

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Commenting on Luke 22:61 KJV - 'And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the rooster crows, thou shalt deny me three times.' - Commentator Matthew Henry shares: The Lord turned and looked upon him. Christ is here called the Lord, for there was much of divine knowledge, power, and grace, appearing in this. Though Christ had now his back upon Peter, and was (in) his trial (when, one would think, he had something else to mind), yet he knew all that Peter said. Christ takes more notice of what we say and do then we think he does. When Peter disowned Christ, yet Christ did not disown him, though he might justly have cast him off, and never looked upon him more, but have denied him before his Father. It is well for us that Christ does not deal with us as we deal with him. Matthew Henry

Mercy, what is it? God knowing me better than I know myself and still not only loving me, not only liking me, but wanting me for His friend, His daily walking companion, the eternal sharer of His home! Such love indeed.

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The scantiness or the fullness of your life all depends upon how large a God you have! . . . The God of Paul was a very glorious and mighty Being, and it was the greatness of his God that gave greatness to his character and life. He was but a vessel to receive and reflect the glory of God. "The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.' Daniel 11:32 KJV The people who have learned to clothe themselves with His Almightyness are the people of enlarged vision and victorious faith. Human (Christian) heroes are honored for the measure in which they have dropped out of sight and simply magnify Him. It is not Elijah, but Elijah's God that we remember. It is not Paul, but Paul's Christ who we want. -A.B.Simpson

If I am going to see God move in the issues of my life, if I am going to have a powerful and effective prayer life, I've got to be able to visualize Him truly being 'bigger than what's the matter.' I've got to see that there is not a bully in front of which He cowers, from which He runs. But, I also have to see Him - and accept Him - handling every one of my concerns in a way that most uplifts Jesus and, therefore, most glorifies His Name. Though Steve Mounts is the incredible beneficiary of Jesus Christ' grace - as will all people be who turn to Him for salvation - for Jesus does all things well (He really does if we will wait for Him and watch Him work!) - in this sense of things, there is no Steve Mounts in Jesus. He must increase and I must decrease.

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Suppose that after the ark was completed God said to Noah, 'Now, get eight spikes of iron and drive them into the side of the ark.' So Noah procured the spikes and did as he was biden. The word came to him, 'Come, you and all your household, and hang on to these spikes.' So Noah and his wife, and the three sons and their wives, each held on to a spike. And the rains descended and the flood came, and as the ark was borne up on the waters their muscles were strained to the uttermost. Imagine God saying to them, 'If you hang on till the deluge is over you will be saved!' Can you even think of such a thing as any one of them going safely through? But, oh, how different the simple Bible story. 'And the Lord said to Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark.' That is a very different thing than holding on! Inside the ark they were safe as long as the ark endured the storm. And every believer in Christ is as safe as God can make him. Look away then from all self-effort and trust Him alone. Rest in the ark and rejoice in God's great salvation. Harry Ironside

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Simply reading the Bible, I encountered not a misty vapor but an actual Person. A Person as unique and distinctive and colorful as any person I know. God has deep emotions; he feels delight and frustration and anger . . . As I read through the Bible . . . I marveled at how much God lets human beings affect him. I was unprepared for the joy and anguish - in short, the passion - of the God of the Universe. By studying 'about' God, by taming him and reducing him to words and concepts that could be filed away in alphabetical order, I had lost the force of the passionate relationship God seeks above all else. The people who related to God best - Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah - treated him with startling familiarity. They talked to God as if he were sitting in a chair beside them, as one might talk to a counselor, a boss, a parent, or a lover. They treated him like a person.

MY REACTION:

On a scale of 1 to 10 - 1 being total serenity, 10 being mind-blinding panic - Jesus' disciples' reaction to His news that He was going away must have been about a 15. Yes, Christ, its great that You are going to build something good for us and all that somewhere and for sometime later but, Christ, really "We don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way?" John 14:5. I think that Thomas - who no doubt was speaking for the whole troop - was really stating what would come along many years later in a proverb from somewhere - 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' We want You here right now, Christ. We want to continue to look at You and we want to continue to touch You. We want the miracles - bread that we can eat, wine that we can drink, storms that we can see calmed, dead people that we can see raised - to continue just as they have since You came on the scene. What do You mean that You are leaving?
I understand what Thomas and the rest of the guys were about. I've got about 10 problems - or is it 20 - that I'd like to sit down with Jesus on the sofa and talk about right now. I bet you do too.

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I would like to thank all who have contacted me since I began this Blog project - with my son, Brian's, huge help and support - a year ago now. Many have shared of the help that they have received from these efforts, of the prayers that they are sending up for me as I am moving into the brave new world (for me!) of on-line, computerized ministry, and of their desire for me to add their names and needs to my growing prayer-concerns list. This, of course, I am happy to do and will continue to add any and all needs of any and all kinds to my daily prayer ministry. I don't think that there is anything more important that we can do for each other than hold each other up to our Father in prayer. To that end I would like to share my email address for public consumption, you send me a need and I promise you I will wrap God's Scripture Promises around it and bring it to the throne of grace. Together we will agree and intercede.

The above email address is only a picture. You may use the address in your chosen email client. In case you'd like to know more about me and my ministry before contacting me then I suggest reading my author's profile, ministry, and core beliefs pages on this site.

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