Encouragement

Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,.

This from John MacDuff

He groaned, bled, and died for you!

(John MacDuff, "Encouragements to Patient Waiting" 1864)

"Yes, I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself!" Jeremiah 31:3

Christian, think on what Christ has already done for you.

He groaned, bled, and died for you!

You were lost and on your way to Hell — but He found you!

You were His enemy — but He reconciled you!

You were a captive of the devil — but He freed you!

You were blind to your desperate condition — but He cured you!

You were dead in sin — but He quickened you!

As deep as is the mountain of our guilt — deeper, far deeper is that ocean of infinite love in which God has promised to bury it forever, and to remember it no more against us!

Oh! when you reflect how He has watched over you, since He has saved you — how He has . . . .

preserved you from dangers,

supported you in seasons of temptation,

sustained you in times of trial,

nourished you in days of sickness,

comforted you in the hours of despondency!

Surely, you cannot surely imagine that He will now desert you; you cannot believe that He will so mar the work of His own hands — the labor of His own love — as to cast you off, and leave you to perish! If He sought you when His enemy — will He not take care of you when His child?

"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" Ephesians 3:19

Where is our citizenship?

Phil 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Where is our citizenship?

James Smith: "Our citizenship is in heaven." By our regeneration, we are born to this celestial city; and as by our adoption, we are placed among, and recognized as part of, the family of God, we are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. By virtue of God's free grace, as well as by our covenant relationship, we are redeemed men, and are now traveling to take possession of our inheritance. Not only so--but as our citizenship is in heaven, so all our best things are there--Jesus our adorable Redeemer is there--we have laid up our treasure there--our hearts therefore are there--our life is there, hid with Christ in God--our hope is there, which as an anchor of the soul, enters into that which is within the veil--our Father is there--and all our nearest and dearest relations are there. All that we prize most, and all that we love best, is in heaven; it is therefore surprising that we are not more desirous of going there, to see, enjoy, and be with them forever.

1 Peter 3:18  

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God

Psalm 16:11

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 103

Psalm 103:1
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!

This from the treasure of David by Spurgeon:

The Psalmist strikes the best keymote when he begins with stirring up his inmost self to magnify the Lord. He soliloquizes, holds self-communion and exhorts himself, as though he felt that dulness would all too soon steal over his faculties, as, indeed, it will over us all, unless we are diligently on the watch.

 O God, but thy saints shall bless thee." Our very life and essential self should be engrossed with this delightful service, and each one of us should arouse his own heart to the engagement. Let others forbear if they can: "Bless the Lord, O MY soul." Let others murmur, but do thou bless. Let others bless themselves and their idols, but do thou bless the LORD. Let others use only their tongues, but as for me I will cry, "Bless the Lord, O my soul."

And all that is within me, bless his holy name. Many are our faculties, emotions, and capacities, but God has given them all to us, and they ought all to join in chorus to his praise. Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord.

"All that is within me, etc. Let your conscience "bless the Lord," by unvarying fidelity. Let your judgment bless Him, by decisions in accordance with his word. Let your imagination bless him, by pure and holy musings. Let your affections praise him, by loving whatsoever he loves. Let your desires bless him, by seeking only his glory. Let your memory bless him, by not forgetting any of his benefits. Let your thoughts bless him, by meditating on his excellencies. Let your hope praise him, by longing and looking for the glory that is to be revealed. Let your every sense bless him by its fealty, your every word by its truth, and your every act by its integrity." John Stevenson

Spurgeon Quote

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for."
— Charles H. Spurgeon