Pondering Knoll: Why those fears? Behold, 'Tis Jesus

Friday, August 10, 2012

Why those fears? Behold, 'Tis Jesus

Why those fears? Behold, 'tis Jesus

Holds the helm and guides the ship;

Spread the sails, and catch the breezes

Sent to waft us through the deep

To the regions where the mourners cease to weep.

Though the shore we hope to land on

Only by report is known,

Yet we freely all abandon,

Led by that report alone,

And with Jesus through the trackless deep move on.

Led by faith, we brave the ocean;

Led by faith, the storm defy;

Calm amidst tumultuous motion,

Knowing that the Lord is nigh:

Waves obey Him, and the storms before Him fly.

Rendered safe by His protection,

We shall pass the watery waste,

Trusting to His wise direction,

We shall gain the port at last;

And with wonder think on toils and dangers past.

Oh what pleasures there await us!

There the tempests cease to roar:

There it is that those who hate us

Can molest our peace no more:

Trouble ceases on that tranquil, happy shore.

by Thomas Kelly

(Thanks for reminding us, Rachel)

“In order to be a disciple we must deny ourselves - this is to exercise authority over our own spirit. We must take up the cross - this is to submit to Christ’s authority. And we must follow - this is continued obedience. This is the road not to confinement, to bondage, to a stunted or arrested development, but to total personal freedom. It means not death but life, not a narrowly circumscribed life but “abundant” life. The gate is narrow but not the life. The gate opens out into largeness of life.”

-Elisabeth Elliot

“No sigh ever reached the Most High, except through Christ—I mean so as to move His heart to pour out His grace. Prayers, groans, tears, all these are like arrows without a bow, till Christ comes and fits them to the string, and shoots them home for you and me. All our prayers are like a victim, with the wood and altar; Christ must bring the fire, and then the sacrifice smokes to heaven. He is the messenger. Oh Christian, do you not rejoice in Him then as the Messenger of the Covenant? He is doing thy errands before the throne tonight, pleading for me, pleading for you."

~C. H. Spurgeon

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31

"...The central place of faith in Christianity, and its significance...is precisely that which, on man's side, adjusts him to the living and merciful presence and action of a trusted God. In its nature, not by any mere arbitrary arrangement, it is his one possible receptive attitude, that in which he brings nothing, so that he may receive all. Thus "faith" is our side of union with Christ. And thus it is our means of possessing all His benefits, pardon, justification, purification, life, peace, glory."

-Handley Dunelm