Pocket Thoughts - 7/5/24
God * brings judgment on rebellion * will remove His people’s disgrace from all the earth * is the Upright One Who makes the way of the righteous smooth.
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What a gift to be held in the hands of the Lord! We can call on Him and know that He answers us. His ears are attentive to our prayers, and He answers out of His hesed – His faithful lovingkindness. We can live without fear, confident that He is our refuge from our foes and our ultimate salvation. What tender love to be “the apple of His eye” and to “hide in the shadow of His wings!” We are safe in Him. – TV
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Develop the habit of attributing the presence of “every good and perfect gift” to the “Good and Perfect Giver.” – TV
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Oh, God, how often I allow my human nature to take over! I feel compelled to repay You in some way for a debt oceans wide and miles deep – a debt You don’t require of me and a debt foolishly impossible to ever imagine settling. You, the God of endless mercy and boundless love have closed the account – “It is finished.” You want only for me to sit in Your presence; to enjoy You; to drink in the beauty, power, and strength found only in Your love; to observe, absorb, and worship Your character. Leaving that divine appointment – soaked in Your glory – no agenda is found. I came only to be loved, and I left loved indeed! Serving You will come at Your calling, and this well-watered soul will eagerly respond, “Yes, Lord!” Wholly devoted to You, Jesus, and praying in Your beautiful Name, amen.
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Jesus Christ – the Word – is God the Son. He, along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, exists eternally. He was at creation as the Master Creator. Our minds can hardly fathom that the Creator came to earth to be part of His own creation – God as man – but that’s what love did for us. Perfect God clothed Himself as perfect humanity for the purpose of redeeming His creation. When Christ came, mankind’s partial knowledge of Who God was became full. God became tangible and visible! Law and grace were perfectly presented in Christ’s nature. All the human heart could ever long for is found in Him. – TV
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“The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s work within us.” – A.W. Tozer
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“But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16a
