ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM FEBRUARY 2003 IN ONE FILE
Thirst again?
(by John MacDuff)
"Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again."
John 4:13
All creature and 'created good' is inadequate of
itself to satisfy the yearnings of the human soul.
In every breast there is a craving after happiness.
"Who will show us any good?" is the sigh, the
soliloquy, of weary humanity.
There are many streams of 'created' enjoyment.
Some of these lawful, innocent, exhilarating,
which have the blessing and favor of God
resting upon them. Others are poor, vile,
degraded, unworthy.
But even the best and purest, viewed by
themselves and apart from God, can afford
no permanent bliss or satisfaction.
They do not, cannot quench the immortal thirst.
Pitcher after pitcher may be brought to the well's
mouth; the golden goblet of riches; the jeweled
flagon with the luscious draught of earthly glory;
or the brimming transparent pitcher drawn up by
the silken cord of human affection.
But He who knows the human heart pronounces,
that "thirst again" is the property and characteristic
of them all.
The finite can never be a satisfying portion
for that which was born for the infinite.
Satisfying portion?
Philosophy, with its eagle soarings,
says, "It is not in me!"
The pride of rank, crowns and coronets,
and lordly titles, says, "It is not in me!"
The laurel of conquest, as it withers on
the warrior's brow, says, "It is not in me!"
Gold, with its glittering heaps, laughs its
votaries to scorn, and says, "It is not in me!"
Jesus does not condemn many of these worldly
streams of innocent pleasure, or forbid their
being resorted to. He who knows our frame
would lay no cruel arrest on many objects of
lawful earthly pursuit; the many wells of earthly
happiness. All He says of them is, "If you restrict
your happiness to these, you will not be satisfied;
you will assuredly thirst again. The well of living
waters that I tell you of, is more far lasting than
all earthly sources of supply."
"Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.
But whoever drinks the water I give him will
never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will
become in him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life." John 4:13, 14
Earth Worm!
(Jonathan Edwards, "The Justice of God")
What covetousness has been in many of you!
Such has been your inordinate love of the
world, and care about the things of it, that
it has taken up your heart.
For the vanities of the world you have
allowed no room for God; you have minded
the world more than your eternal salvation.
For the vanities of the world you have
neglected reading, praying and meditation.
For the vanities of the world you have cast
God, and Christ, and heaven, behind your back.
For the vanities of the world you have
sold your own soul.
You have as it were drowned your soul in
worldly cares and desires; you have been
a mere earth worm, that is never in its
element but when groveling and buried
in the earth!
Go simply to Jesus!
(Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")
What is your sorrow?
Has health failed you?
Has property forsaken you?
Have friends turned against you?
Are you tried in your circumstances?
Are you perplexed in your path?
Are providences thickening and darkening around you?
Are you anticipating seasons of approaching trial?
Are you walking in darkness, having no light?
Go simply to Jesus!
He is a tender, loving, faithful Friend, ever near.
He is a Brother born for your adversity.
His grace and sympathy are sufficient for you.
The great secret of a life of faith is . . .
to hang upon Jesus daily;
to go to Him in every trial;
to cast upon Him every burden;
to take the infirmity, the corruption, the cross,
as it rises, simply and immediately to Jesus.
You are to set Christ before you . . .
as your Example to imitate;
as your Fountain to wash in;
as your Foundation to build upon;
as your Fullness to draw from;
as your tender, loving, and confiding Brother and
Friend, to go to at all times and under all circumstances.
Jesus enriches His bride with gifts!
(Henry Law, "The Heavenly Bridegroom" 1854)
Jesus enriches His bride with gifts! Angels
may marvel, dazzled by the Church's wealth.
He holds back nothing from her. All His
attributes are her grand inheritance!
His wisdom is hers to guide!
His power is hers to uphold!
His love is as the sun to cheer!
His faithfulness and truth are her shield and support!
His Spirit is poured down in unfailing measure
to teach, to solace, and to bless her!
His righteousness is hers, to be her spotless robe.
His heavens are hers, to be her home!
His throne is hers, to be her seat!
His glory is hers, to be her crown!
His eternity is hers, that she may rejoice forever!
Oh what a treasure is Christ!
(Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")
A feast for the worms!
(Thomas Boston, "Death")
"Like sheep, they are led to the grave,
where death will be their shepherd.
Their bodies will rot in the grave,
far from their grand estates." Psalm 49:14
Do not value yourselves on your BEAUTY, which
"rots in the grave." Remember the change which
death makes on the fairest face, "You always
overpower them, and then they pass from the
scene. You disfigure them in death and send
them away." Job 14:20.
Death makes the greatest beauty so loathsome,
that it must be buried out of sight!
And what though the body be gorgeously arrayed?
The finest clothes are but badges of our sin and
shame; and in a little time will be exchanged for
a shroud, when the body will become a feast for
the worms!
Laws of nature?
(John MacDuff, "Memories of Patmos")
"In an instant, I, the Lord Almighty, will come
against them with thunder and earthquake
and great noise, with whirlwind and storm
and consuming fire." Isaiah 29:6
Winds, and earthquakes, and tempests are not
the capricious outbreaks of unregulated mechanical
force. The laws of nature are, in the loftiest sense,
the exponents and expressions of God's higher will.
Let us not dethrone and undeify the great Maker
and Sustainer, by substituting for His sovereign rule
what are called the laws of nature.
The world's vast machinery, with all its varied
and intricate movements, is under His supervision
and control.
"He holds the winds in His fists."
"He gathers the waters in the hollow of His hand."
"He makes the clouds His chariot."
"He directs the snow to fall on the earth,
and tells the rain to pour down."
This offers a lesson of soothing consolation
to many a stricken heart. That lightning which
struck down my child was an arrow out of
the quiver of God!
That wave which swept him from the vessel's
side; or that hurricane which overthrew my
dwelling, and buried loved ones in the ruins,
had their pathway marked out by God!