solitude

"Be still, and know that I am God..."

~Psalms 46:10 [NIV]

"Solitude is one of the deepest disciplines of the spiritual life because it crucifies our need for importance and prominence. Everyone--including ourselves at first--will see our solitude as a waste of good time. We are removed from 'where the action is.' That, of course, is exactly what we need. In silence and solitude God slowly but surely frees us from our egomania.

In time we come to see that the really important action occurs in solitude. Once we have experienced God at work in our soul, all the blare and attention of the world seems like a distant and fragmentary echo. Only then are we able to enter the hustle and bustle of today's machine civilization with perspective and freedom."

~Richard J. Foster

the secret shelter

"Give me Yourself, O my God, give Yourself to me. Behold I love You, and if my love is too weak a thing, grant me to love You more strongly. I cannot measure my love to know how much it falls short of being sufficient, but let my soul hasten to Your embrace and never be turned away until it is hidden in the secret shelter of Your presence. This only do I know, that it is not good for me when You are not with me, when You are only outside me. I want You in my very self. All the plenty in the world which is not my God is utter want. Amen."

~Saint Augustine of Hippo

cs lewis

"C.S. Lewis one surmised that each person is created to see a different facet of God's beauty--something no one else can see in quite the same way--and then to bless all worshippers through all eternity with an aspect of God they could not otherwise see."

~John Ortberg from The Life You've Always Wanted

infuse

"My God, Sweetness beyond words, make bitter all the carnal comfort that draws me from love of the eternal and lures me to its evil self by the sight of some delightful good in the present. Let it not overcome me, my God. Let not flesh and blood conquer me. Let not the world and its brief glory deceive me, nor the devil trip me by his craftiness. Give me courage to resist, patience to endure, and constancy to persevere. Give me the soothing unction of Your Spirit rather than all the consolations of the world, and in place of carnal love, infuse into me the love of Your name. Amen."

~From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a'Kempis

heart

"A person who has a knowledge of doctrine and theology only--without religious affection--has never engaged in true religion. Nothing is more apparent than this: our religion takes root within us only as deep as our affections attract it. There are thousands who hear the Word of God, who hear great and exceedingly important truths about themselves and their lives, and yet all they hear has no effect upon them, makes no change in the way they live.

The reason is this: they are not affected with what they hear. There are many who hear about the power, the holiness, and the wisdom of God; about Christ and the great things that He has done for them and His gracious invitation to them; and yet they remain exactly as they are in life and in practice.

I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine, by hearing the Word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. No one ever seeks salvation, no one ever cries for wisdom, no one ever wrestles with God, no one ever kneels in prayer or flees from sin, with a heart that remains unaffected. In a word, there is never any great achievement by the things of religion without a heart deeply affected by those things."

~From Engagement of the Heart by Jonathan Edwards

ash wednesday

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; 

according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in 

Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak 

and justified when You judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother 

conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; 

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I 

will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; 

let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from 

my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence 

or take You Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation 

and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will 

turn back to You. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God 

who saves me, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. 

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

~Psalms 51 (NIV)

trust

"I leave you peace; My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid."  ~John 14:27

If only you knew that I came to help and not condemn. If only you knew that tomorrow will be better than today. If only you knew the gift I have brought: eternal life. If only you knew I want you safely home.

If only you knew...

What wistful words to come from the lips of God. How kind that He would let us hear them. How crucial that we pause to hear them. If only we knew to trust. Trust that God is in our corner. Trust that God wants what is best...If only we could learn to trust Him.  

~Max Lucado

grace

"God of all grace, whose thoughts toward us are ever thoughts of peace and not of evil, give us hearts to believe that we are accepted in the Beloved; and give us minds to admire that perfection of moral wisdom which found a way to preserve the integrity of heaven and yet receive us there. We are astonished and marvel that One so holy and dread should invite us into Thy banqueting house and cause love to be the banner over us. We cannot express the gratitude we feel, but look Thou on our hearts and read it there. Amen."

~AW Tozer from Knowledge of the Holy