Need to Set a Goal?

Donald Whitney writes, 

"It's one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don't own a Bible; it's another thing when you have a bookshelf full.

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God's Word. 

Nothing can substitute for it.

There is simply no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture."

Josiah & Jacob on Christmas eve eve

Jane, Josiah, Jacob and I took a trip to Crown Center/Union Station on Sunday evening.

                                 Intense hangman at Nick and Jake's on way home...

                                         Outside Crown Center...

                                           The Union Station tree...

Miracle One

Wayne Grudem is one smart dude. In his Systematic Theology he makes this observation:

"It is by far the most amazing miracle in the whole Bible -

far more amazing than the resurrection

and more amazing than the creation of the universe.

The face that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join Himself to a human nature forever, so that infinite God became one person with finite man,

will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe."

As 2012 evaporates, it is hard to be optimistic. The economy, obamacare, the pending Supreme Court rulings on "gay marriage", and many other factors combine to make the future bleak...

Yet we cling to the Lord, and believe in His sovereignty.

And we recognize that "all God's people got trouble."

Thought of that as I read Habakkuk 3.17,18 as part of my intake this morning:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls, 
yet will I rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation."

React, or act? It is an act of the will to "rejoice" and to "take joy."

Recognize the focal point of rejoicing..."in the Lord"..."in the God of my salvation."

Helps me keep things in perspective...

Surprised by Suffering?

I wonder if 1 Peter 4.19 was one of the verses Thomas Jefferson didn't like?

Don't imagine most of the expensively-suited television "preachers" like it...

"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

Thought of that verse as I read this, from Charles Simeon:

"My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted all His suffering and triumped voer death. Let us follow Him patiently; we shall soon be partakers of His victory."