Prayer for Today

"Jesus My Glory" from The Valley of Vision

O LORD GOD,

Thou hast commanded me to believe in Jesus;

and I would flee to no other refuge,

wash in no other fountain, 

build on no other foundation,

receive from no other fullness,

rest in no other relief.

His water and blood were not severed in their flow at the cross,

may they never be separated in my creed and experiences;

May I be equally convinced of the guilt and pollution of sin;

feel my need of a prince and savior,

implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,

love holiness, and be pure in heart,

have the mind of Jesus, and tread in his steps.

Let me not be at my own disposal, 

but rejoice that I am under the care of one

who is too wise to err,

too kind to injure,

too tender to crush. 

May i scandalize none by my temper and conduct,

but recommend and endear Christ to all around,

bestow god on every one as circumstances permit,

and decline no opportunity of usefulness.

Grant that I may value my substance,

not as the medium of pride and luxury,

but as the means of my support and stewardship.

Help me to guide my affections with discretion,

to owe no man anything,

to be able to give to him that needeth, 

to feel it my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving, 

to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.

A Decade Ago

Well, I just had a whole post about September 11th typed and then it spontaneously self-deleted. Story of my life. So instead of the personal memories from fourth grade, and the reflections on how it is our generations Pearl Harbor, etc. I'll leave a few quotes. For my words really are insufficient to say anything worthwhile about the atrocities of ten years ago today. But the Lord was not caught off guard.  And our nation can rest in his sovereignty. 


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

The following is John Piper's tweet from earlier this morning. I am not at all surprised that his remark would be such, but I find it sobering nonetheless. We talked about this same mentality with regards to election this morning in Sunday School.

"Jesus' sure word to me on 9/11: Do not be amazed that the towers fell. Be amazed that they didn't fall on you. (Luke 13:1-5)"

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

In honor of Auburn's SEC opener against Mississippi State this weekend, I figured I'd share this picture of a ticket stub from last's year's game between State and the University of Alabama. Notice anything funny about the spelling? All I have to say to that is... RTR.

Need a smile?

A few days ago in my Global Consumer Culture class we watched this video. At first I thought it was pretty weird, but then as it went on I was fascinated. My teacher was using it to illustrate how the internet enables us to be in contact with people all over the world. However, I was knocked off my feet once again by how big the world is. When I watch this video, I see the creativity of God in making so many kinds of people and places and cultures. I see people who need Jesus, and he has given us the beautiful task of sharing in his work of making his glory known in the ends of the earth!

Psalm 67

God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us—that thy way may be known on the earth, thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for thou wilt judge the peoples with uprightness, and guide the nations on the earth. Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee. The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear him. 

Vertigo

Until a year or so ago, I had no idea what this word even meant. Now, I rather wish I didn't. The day after moving in to my new home in Magnolia Hall, I got extremely dizzy. The dizziness didn't go away when I closed my eyes, or when I was lying down. It made rush difficult, to say the least. No surprise, my great God used this ordeal to give me more of himself. Isn't it incredible how he is so faithful to do that? The Lord really taught me what my head has known for a while - that joy is a choice. Me being miserable was no excuse for me to be grumpy, or to treat people poorly. Sure, a constant spinning room is infuriating, but I still have SO much to be thankful for. God is good in sickness and in health. At one point in all my testing they stopped an inner ear test because they found something wrong and sent me immediately to get an MRI. As imaginable, my mind rushed to all of the possible things that could be wrong. I was afraid, but not overwhelmed. My God has proved himself to me over and over in spite of my faithlessness, and I knew that He was enough for me. Whatever life has next, bring it on. All that matters is knowing and enjoying Him. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength1 of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

There is enough of God to furnish us with any matter of joy in the worst circumstances on earth... Joy in God is a duty of great consequence in the Christian life and Christians need to be again and again called to it. -Matthew Henry

Magnificent

Almighty and most merciful Father, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings and deeper than all our sin. Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than we have, our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure, our indifference to the treasures of heaven and our neglect of your wise and gracious law. O God, change our hearts so that we may desire what is good, love what you love, and do what you command, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen


"Without knowledge of self, then there is no knowledge of God." -Calvin's Institues


Praise be to God who crushes me with the depth of my own sin, in order that I may dance for joy because of his overwhelming grace!

The Shores

Wow. How do I sum up my last three weeks? I am sitting at a Starbucks in Tyler, Texas right now. I'm about to get my third cabin of rising senior girls. I do not feel like my life is real. Which is probably because I'm living in Pine Cove world and not the real one. The Lord has been so gracious to overwhelm me with my inadequacy. If I am completely helpless in my salvation how do I expect to be able to make it through daily life on my own? I feel like a broken record sometimes, repeating the same things over and over and over again. But then that reminds me that I NEED to hear the Gospel that many times each day. God has filled me with an even deeper love for his Word and so much insight into ministry. I am learning what it means to rely on him completely. Hopefully there will be many more details to come. I get practically giddy every time I think about moving back to Auburn, which will happen in A WEEK AND A HALF!!! Yay! But until then, Week 9 Go hard!