"The SUPREMACY of God"

God alone reigns in absolute supremacy. He is unmatched in majesty, unchallenged in authority, and unrivaled in glory. He does not seek permission, accept counsel, or share His throne. All things from the highest archangel to the smallest particle exist by His will and for His praise. He is not an accessory to human ambition, nor a servant to man's desires. He is the One who declares the end from the beginning, who works all things according to the counsel of His own will. "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in Heaven and earth is Yours!" (1 Chronicles 29:11)  

To acknowledge the supremacy of God, is to be brought low before Him. It crushes the pride of man and silences every boast. We are not in control. Our plans, our wisdom, our strength all vanish before the One who sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. He is not a passive observer, but the living King actively ruling every moment of history. Nothing is outside of His dominion. Every breath drawn, every drop of rain that falls, every ruler who rises or is cast down each move in exact obedience to His eternal decree. "The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth!" (Psalm 135:6) 

There is not a stray molecule in the universe, not a single event outside His sovereign hand. This truth devastates human pride, and it anchors the believer's soul. The God who upholds the galaxies is the same God who numbers the hairs on our head. He who governs the cosmos, also holds our hearts. His supremacy is not cold or distant it is filled with covenant love. The same hand that directs the universe, was pierced for our redemption! To the one who trusts in Christ, God's supremacy is the ground of deepest peace. No foe can triumph, no trial can overwhelm, no promise can fail for the Sovereign Lord of all, is also our Father in Heaven. 

He is never frustrated, never surprised, never overruled. Every joy and every sorrow flows from His wise and loving will. Let us therefore worship not merely for what He gives, but for who He is. Let us bow in reverence, trust in His providence, and rejoice that this infinitely great and glorious God has made Himself ours. "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of Heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35)  

Lord, you are King, and I am dust. Yet You reign for my good and Your glory. Help me to trust You completely. Sovereign Lord, who reigns over all things in power and majesty, humble my heart before You. Silence every fear and every doubt with the knowledge that You do all things well. Let me rest in Your supreme rule, trusting that Your will is always wise, always just, and always good. Amen. 

[A. W. Pink] 

Isaiah 46:9 ...  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Seek!!

Seek Him Daily.

1 Chronicles 16:11 ... Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.

Psalm 105:4 ... Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Jeremiah 29:13 ... And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. ❤

Marvels!!

We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. 

[Charles Spurgeon]

Psalm 9:1 ... I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

1 Chronicles 16:24 ... Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.

Job 37:5 ... God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. ❤

Give and Take

Life is full of give and take.

GIVE thanks.

Take nothing for granted.

 

Jeremiah 17:7 ... Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

1 Chronicles 16:34 ... O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. ❤

Well Beloved Christ.

Put the beauty of ten thousand worlds of paradises, like the Garden of Eden in one; put all trees, all flowers, all fragrances, all colors, all tastes, all joys, all loveliness, all sweetness in one. O what a lovely and excellent thing would that be! And yet it would be less compared to our dearest well-beloved Christ than one drop of rain compared to the whole seas, rivers, and lakes of ten thousand earths. 

[Samuel Rutherford]

Psalm 89:6-7 ... For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?  God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

1 Chronicles 29:11 ... Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Psalm 97:9 ... For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. ❤

Beauty of Creation

Everywhere I look, everything I feel, hear, smell, and taste transmits the beauty of God through the beauty of creation. He is the beauty behind all beauty. 

[Steve DeWitt]

1 Chronicles 16:29 ... Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. ❤

Walk Worthy!!

Dear friends, we cannot set the world right. We have not the power to persuade or convince multitudes of their errors of doctrine or practice, but we can see to it that we ourselves are walking ‘worthy of God’ and letting our light shine so brightly that all may see more plainly the pathway to the Celestial City because we are passing along it.

[Susannah Spurgeon]

1 Chronicles 29:15 ... For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

Matthew 5:16 ... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ❤

The God of Popular Christianity!

In these days of man-centered religion, verses like these have been ignored. The pulpits of our land preach a defeated God, a disappointed Christ and a defenseless Holy Spirit. Man has been deified and God dethroned. God has been relegated to the background.

The God most people believe in has benevolent intentions, yet He is unable to carry them out. He wants to bless men, but they will not let Him. The average church-goer thinks Satan has gained the upper hand, and that God is to be pitied rather than worshiped. The god of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo!

To suppose in the slightest that God has failed, or that He has been defeated, is the height of foolishness and the depth of impiety! The religious world needs to get God off the charity list!

The Bible knows nothing of a defeated, disappointed, and defenseless God. The God of the Bible is the "Almighty God" (Genesis 17:1) Who has all power in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). With Him nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) or too hard (Jeremiah 32:17). His eternal purpose is being worked out. Everything is going according to His plan, and all things are under His control.

The God of the Bible is the Supreme Being in the universe! He is the most High, higher than the highest. He has no superiors and no equals. God is God. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases.

"He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? What His soul desires, even that He does" (Job 23:13). Agreeing with this is Psalm 115:3: "But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatever He has pleased." As the Master of the World He declares: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure!" (Isaiah 46:10)

God is the Supreme Being and the Sovereign of the universe. He exercises His power as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth. No one can ward off His hand or say to Him: What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35)

God governs all His creatures and their actions. The events that take place on earth do not take place by chance, or fate, or luck. The so-called accidents are not even incidents with the Master of the World. He numbered the hairs of our head and noted the sparrow's fall in eternity past by His "determinate counsel and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23).

The Master of the World set the bounds of our habitation on earth. The number of our months is with Him, and our days are appointed!

God is holding the helm of the universe, and regulating all events. The Master of the World "works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). It is God's eternal right to do all His pleasure. He is not accountable to any of His creatures. Job 33:13 declares: "He gives no account of any of His matters."

God controls all things or nothing. He must either rule or be ruled. He must either sway or be swayed. He must either accomplish His will or be thwarted by His creatures. He is not obligated to leave the affairs of this world to be governed by accident, chance, or the will of sinful men.

If we admit that God absolutely governs all things according to the counsel of His own will, then we admit that He has determined what shall and what shall not transpire in time and eternity. To deny His universal control of all things, is to deny His eternal power and Godhead. If He has the power and wisdom to determine all events then He can cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

[Milburn Cockrell]

1 Chronicles 29:11-12 … Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

The Lord's Rod Has a Voice!

As affliction proceeds neither from blind necessity, nor from casual accident but from the hand of your Omniscient Governor and Judge; so nothing can be more certain than that it is designed for the accomplishment of some great and useful purpose!

Now the design of affliction is expressly revealed in the Word of God. He has condescended to explain the reasons of His dealings with you and it is alike your duty and your privilege to consider and to concur in His declared design. The general end of affliction, as it is explained in God's Word, is the moral and spiritual improvement of believers in other words, their progressive sanctification, and their preparation for glory. Oh! how important must the right use of affliction be, if it is intended to terminate in such a blessed result. It stands connected with our everlasting welfare with all that we can enjoy on earth, and all that we hope for in Heaven.

But more particularly, the day of adversity is intended for our INSTRUCTION. The Lord's rod has a voice which speaks to us lessons of heavenly wisdom. Therefore, we are required "to hear the rod, and Him who has appointed it." (Micah 6:9.) "The rod and reproof give wisdom." (Proverbs 29:15.) It presents to our minds many of the same great truths which are declared in Scripture but which we may have overlooked, or failed rightly to understand until they were pressed on our attention, and made the matter of our personal experience in the day of trouble.

Thus, it teaches most impressively, that great Scriptural truth of the vanity of the world, and its insufficiency as the portion of rational and immortal beings. This is a truth which might almost be regarded as self-evident; yet it is one which is very slowly and reluctantly admitted by the young disciple, and which can only be effectually impressed on his mind, and unfolded in all its extent, by the experience of disappointment and sorrow.

In like manner, the day of adversity teaches us the great lesson of our entire and constant dependence on God. But a little while before, we were rejoicing in the midst of prosperity our health was sound, our business prosperous, our families entire. But the sudden stroke has come which has smitten our bodies with disease, our business with bankruptcy, or our families with death. And that stroke has come from the Lord's hand!

Oh! in such circumstances, we are impressively taught that we are absolutely in God's power; that all that we have is at His sovereign disposal; that we depend on Him, day by day, continually for our personal preservation, our worldly prosperity, our domestic comfort, for all, in short, that we desire or need on earth.

These are some of the lessons which adversity, when viewed as a means of moral instruction, is fitted to inculcate and to impress with great practical power on our hearts. When these lessons are duly considered; and, above all, when they are submissively embraced and acted on the disciple will learn from his own experience the value of affliction, and admire the wisdom with which God suits His lessons to the most urgent necessities of his soul.

[James Buchanan]

✞ ✞ ✞

Job 5:6-7 … Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.❤

Jehovah Incomparable!

Truly, our God is without a parallel! We have read of many gods and of many lords but who is like unto the Lord our God? When we consider His revealed character, made known for our comfort, benefit, and blessedness, we must say "O Lord, there is none like You!"

We have broken His law, dishonored His name, despised his authority, scorned his warnings, andrejected His invitations, yet, (wonder, O heavens! be astonished, O earth!) He comes down to us in Christ, imputes our sins to Him, makes over His righteousness to us, and sends the Gospel to assure us that He is LOVE!

He satisfies His justice in the life, sufferings, and death of the dear atoning Savior; and He determines to display the full extent of His love, in dealing with poor worthless sinners. The Son of His love is treated as the object of His hatred that we might be dealt with as children of His grace. He stoops to the lowest to raise us to the highest! He invites us kindly, promises faithfully; swears solemnly, and carries Himself lovingly to make us happy and blessed. He bears with our sins, relieves our distresses, and draws us to Himself by every tender and alluring means!

But if we consider the dealings of the Lord, we shall see that there is none like Him. He could dash His enemies to Hell with one word, and drive them to despair. But instead of this, He constantly provides for them and many of them are fed by Him with the richest blessings of His providence. He spreads their tables, supplies their needs, and pours in His favors upon them abundantly though they blaspheme His name, despise the mention of His grace, and bid Him to depart from them, in disdain. He preserves them from a variety of dangers, which would otherwise hurry them out of time into eternity. He warns them of their dangerous condition, by the word of His grace, the ministers of the gospel, and the dispensations of His providence.

He bears with them from day to day, and does not allow their wickedness to arouse His ire, to their immediate destruction. Who, besides Jehovah, would thus feed, preserve, warn, and bear with such obstinate, careless, provoking wretches? Surely none! "What base rebellious wretches they; And God as strangely kind!" When, in His own time, any of His enemies are brought to discover their wickedness, feel their danger, desire to escape their deserved doom, and apply to Him, He freely pardons them, and forgets all their past unkindness!

When that monster of a man hung by the side of Jesus on the cross, mocking His dying agonies, reviling His dear name, and endeavoring to add to His tremendous sorrows Jesus was as silent as one who heard not, as patient as one who felt not, and as kind as one who had been treated with all possible respect! For, no sooner does the bold blasphemer cry, "Lord remember me!" than Jesus answers, "Today shall you be with me in paradise!"

And can you, O my Savior, freely and fully pardon such a wretch as that? Can you take him in Your arms, to paradise? Can you forget his scarlet crimes, the insults he offered, and the daring wickedness manifested by him but a few minutes before? O Lord, who is like unto you? The vile thief enters Heaven, to the astonishment of angels, the confusion of devils, the wonder of glorified saints, and the honor of the dear, dear Redeemer!

Nor was this a solitary instance but it was an example of what He could do, and what He intended to do. It exhibits His pardoning grace in its real nature and true colors. It shows us what Jesus is, and how He will carry Himself toward all who seek pardon and salvation at His throne. He not only fully pardons the penitent but He cordially accepts him! He receives him as one of the dear objects of His love, and says to each and every one such, "I have blotted out your sins as a cloud, and your iniquities as a thick cloud! Return unto me, for I have redeemed you; and I will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more!"

He kindly visits them, as though they had never carried themselves unkindly toward Him; and constantly blesses them with spiritual, holy, and eternal blessings. He clothes them with the garments of His righteousness, beautifies them with the graces of His Spirit, comforts them with the promises of His love, acknowledges them at His throne of grace when they call upon His name, defends them against their cruel and malicious foes, tenderly expostulates with them when they wander from Him, mercifully warns them of their dangers and foes, kindly exhorts them to cleave close to Himself, wisely corrects them when they wickedly stray, and will crown them with glory at the end of their race! And what returns does He frequently get for His kindness and love? Alas! alas! Too often, ingratitude, rebellion, hardness of heart, alienation of affection, forgetfulness of His mercies, and following after other lovers rather than Himself!

"O Lord, there is none like You!" Lord, one thing I want more holiness grant, For more of your mind and your image I pant; While onward I move, to Canaan above, Come fill me with holiness, fill me with love. Oh give me to know more of You below; Thus fit me for Heaven, and glory bestow; My harp shall be tuned, the Lamb shall be crowned Salvation to Jesus! through Heaven shall resound.

[James Smith]

1 Chronicles 17:20 … O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.❤

Engaged in The Most Menial Work

Potters were not the very highest grade of workers but "the King" needed potters, and therefore they were in royal service, although the material upon which they worked was nothing but clay. We, too, may be engaged in the most menial part of the Lord's work but it is a great privilege to do anything for "the King".

The text tells us of those who dwelt among plants and hedges, having rough hedging and ditching work to do. They may have desired to live in the city, amid its life, society, and refinement but they kept their appointed places, for they also were doing the King's work. In the same way, the place of our habitation is fixed by God, and we are not to remove from it out of whim and caprice but seek to serve the Lord in it, by being a blessing to those among whom we reside. 

These potters and gardeners had royal company, for they "lived there in the service of the King." Just so, no lawful place, or gracious occupation, however lowly, can debar us from communion with our divine Lord. In visiting hovels, swarming lodging-houses, workhouses, or jails we may go with the King. In all works of faith we may count upon Jesus' fellowship. It is when we are in His work, that we may reckon upon His smile. 

You unknown workers who are occupied for your Lord amid the dirt and wretchedness of the lowest of the low be of good cheer, for precious jewels have been found in such lowly places, earthen pots have been filled with heavenly treasure, and noxious weeds have been transformed into precious flowers! Dwell with the King doing His work and when He writes His chronicles, your name shall be recorded!

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

1 Chronicles 4:23 … These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.❤

Gone So Soon!

How you spend your time is a matter of great importance. Many people fool away their time, some in idle visits, others in recreations and pleasures which secretly bewitch the heart, and take it away from holy things. What are our golden hours for but to attend to our souls?

Time misspent is not time lived but time lost!  Time is a precious commodity. As salvation is to be worked out in time, and a place in Heaven depends on using it well, time is of infinite concern!

Think of your short stay in the world. "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow gone so soon without a trace!" (1 Chronicles 29:15)

There is but a span between the cradle and the grave! Solomon says there is "a time to be born and a time to die" but mentions no time of living, as if that were so short, it was not worth naming!

Time, when it has once gone, can never be recalled. "My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away, filled with tragedy. It disappears like a swift boat, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey." (Job 9:25-26)

This Scripture compares time to a flying eagle. Yet time differs from the eagle in this: the eagle flies forward and then back again but time has wings only to fly forward, it never returns! Time flies away irrevocably!

The serious thoughts of our short stay here in this world, would be a great means of promoting godliness. Whoever considers how flitting and winged his life is will hasten his repentance.

[Thomas Watson]

✞ ✞ ✞

James 4:14 … Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Psalm 39:4 ...Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.

Psalm 90:12 … So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Job 8:9 … (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

Psalm 102:11 … My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

Ephesians 5:16 … Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.❤

Curses in Disguise!

There is much apparent good not worth calling by the name. What the world speaks of as blessings are, some of them, often worthless; and many of them are undoubtedly evil and detrimental. They are counterfeits, they do not bear upon them the coinage and currency of Heaven. Satan has disguised them stamped them as true metal while they are base alloy!

Let us leave our blessings, and the method of their bestowal, with the Giver of every good and perfect gift into His hand committing our earthly all, with this prayer of intense fervor yet of simple faith, "Oh that You would bless me indeed!" I want nothing which the world calls a blessing, unless You think it proper for me. I want no shadows, no baubles. I do not ask for riches, they may be a snare to me. I do not ask for the cup running over, the barns full,  the fig-tree blossoming, the home-nest without the thorn. These might alienate me from Yourself, and bind me only closer to earth!

I want blessings indeed. God, I am no judge of this. Whatever YOU give, will be a true blessing to me. And even if You take it away, I will strive to believe that the dark and painful dealing, is Your kindness to me also.

Yes, we repeat, the world's pleasures are often curses in disguise, like Cleopatra's viper, which was hidden in a basket of flowers. There is often an adder lurking in the bed of roses,  a fly in the ointment, poison in the wine-cup!

But the blessings of God are blessings bearing His own divine seal and signature. They may come in frowning providences, in baffling dispensations, in strokes of the chastening rod.  For the present they may seem not joyous, but grievous. But I am content to be in His hands, joyful or sorrowful, in health or in sickness, living or dying. O my Father, give Your own blessing, and I shall bow my heart in submission; for I can only hear in it accents of paternal love!

[John MacDuff]

1 Chronicles 4:10 … And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

The Thanksgiving Habit

The annual Thanksgiving Day in America, has grown to be a national festival. It is a day of rejoicing. It summons all the people to gratitude. It is fitting that a people who have received untold blessings, should set apart one day on which all should recall their mercies, think of God as the Giver of all and express their grateful feelings in words of praise.

But it is not intended that the other three hundred and sixty four days shall be empty of thanksgiving, because one is named as an especial day of rejoicing. We cannot crowd into any one day, all the thanks of a year. Indeed, on no one day can we be grateful for another day. No one person can give thanks for a whole company of people. So no one day can give thanks for any but itself. All the days should be thanksgiving days. Any that is not, lacks something, and stands as imperfect days in the calendar. We are told that we may count that day lost in which we do no kindness to anyone. In like manner may be set down as a lost day that one in which no songs of gratitude rises from our hearts and lips to God.

Anybody can be thankful on one day of the year. At least it ought to be possible for even the most gloomy and pessimistic person to rouse up to grateful feeling, on the high tide of an annual Thanksgiving day. No doubt it is something to pipe even one little song in a whole year of discontent and complaining the kind of living with which some people fill their years. God must be pleased to have some people grateful even for a few moments in a long period of time, and to hear them sing even once in a year. But that is not the way He would have us live. The ideal life is one that is always thankful, not only for a little moment on a particularly fine day. "Praise is lovely," that is, beautiful, beautiful to God. The life which pleases Him is the one which always rejoices.

[J. R. Miller]

1 Chronicles 16:34 … O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 … In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Psalm 100:4 … Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.❤

The Most Excellent Study for Expanding the Soul!

The proper study of God's elect, is God. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father! There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity!

Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-contentment, and go our way with the thought, "Behold I am wise!" But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild donkey's colt; and with the solemn exclamation, "I am but of yesterday, and know nothing!" No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.

The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing will so magnify the whole soul of man as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. While humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory.

Oh, there is in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound! In musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief. In the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is a balsam for every sore.  Would you lose your sorrows?  Would you drown your cares?  Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea!  Be lost in His immensity and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated.

I know nothing which can  so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead!

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

✞ ✞ ✞

1 Chronicles 29:11 … Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.


Ephesians 3:17-19 …  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.


Acts 17:27-28 …  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.❤

Our True Home

Heaven is now our true, abiding home.  While on earth we are strangers and pilgrims, far from our final rest. And while such is our condition here, should we not often think of our heavenly home? Should not Heaven attract us more and more as we journey through life?  Shall we still cleave to earth, since Christ has obtained eternal salvation for us, and passed into the heavens to prepare a way for our entrance into those unending joys in the presence of God?

Oh, let our best affections be placed on those spiritual and divine things above. Let the noblest aspirations of our minds be after a more intimate knowledge of Jesus.  Let us look beyond this valley of tears and keep our eyes fixed on that better country where the Savior ever reigns in glorious majesty; where the fountains of bliss ever flow; where the tree of life ever spreads its delightful shade, and yields its immortal fruits;  where all is unending joy, and love, and peace and felicity!

Let our hearts be more and more disentangled from the cares and temptations of the present life.  Let us live in the world as those who are not of it; as those whose treasure is in Heaven, and whose hearts are there also.  The nearer a Christian comes to Heaven, the less he loves or esteems this present world.  May our affections rise heavenward, endeavoring to bring the realities of future, eternal things more vividly before our minds, and to realize our interest in them.

O my soul, rise above these earthly scenes; and, on the wings of faith, soar to the realms of the blessed, where Jesus is enthroned in unspeakable glory reigning as my life, my hope, and my treasure!

"Blessed Jesus, we beseech You to show us Your glory, and to raise our hearts, our hopes, and our desires, to that blessed world to which You have ascended. O may our souls be daily rising, in holy thought, towards our home where the ransomed of the Lord shall forever obtain joy and gladness. May our thoughts become heavenly, and our hearts be attuned to those songs with which the arches of Heaven shall resound to all eternity! O my Savior, wean my heart from earth, and enable me to place my affection on things above!"

[David Harsha]


Philippians 3:20 … For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:


1 Chronicles 29:15 … For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.


Colossians 3:2 … Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.❤