A people that values its privileges above its … – (©Dwight D. Eisenhower)

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”  – Dwight D. Eisenhower

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I am not bound to win, but I am bound to … – (©Abraham Lincoln)

“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.”  – Abraham Lincoln

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Flame Of God (Poem © by Amy Carmichael)

Flame Of God (Poem © by Amy Carmichael)

 

From prayer that asks that I may be

Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,

From fearing when I should aspire,

From faltering when I should climb higher

From silken self, O Captain, free

Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

 

 

From subtle love of softening things,

From easy choices, weakening,

(Not thus are spirits fortified,

Not this way went the Crucified)

From all that dims Thy Calvary

O Lamb of God, deliver me.

 

 

Give me the love that leads the way,

The faith that nothing can dismay

The hope no disappointments tire,

The passion that will burn like fire;

Let me not sink to be a clod;

Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God 

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There are three kinds of faith in Christ: … – (©D.L. Moody)

There are three kinds of faith in Christ:   1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming. 2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat. 3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in). – D.L. Moody

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Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is – (©Charles Spurgeon)

“Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest… The difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by — who sings from the heart… Lay me upon the bed of languishing, and how shall I then chant God’s high praises, unless He Himself give me the song? No, it is not in man’s power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip… Then, since our Maker gives ‘songs in the night,’ let us wait upon Him for the music” ~ Charles Spurgeon

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It is a great thing to see physical courage, and – (©Oswald Chambers)

“It is a great thing to see physical courage, and greater still to see moral courage, but the greatest to see of all is spiritual courage; oh, to see a person who will stand true to the integrity of Jesus Christ no matter what he or she goes through!” ~ Oswald Chambers

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My Prayer (Poem © By Amy Carmichael)

My Prayer © By Amy Carmichael

 

And shall I pray Thee change Thy will my Father,

Until it be according unto mine?

But no, Lord, no, that shall never be, rather

I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.

 

 

I pray Thee hush the hurrying eager longing

I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire.

See in my quiet places wishes thronging,

Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.

 

 

And work in me to will and do Thy pleasure.

Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,

Tarry content my Well beloved’s leisure,

At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

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The supreme function of reason is … (©Blaise Pascal)

The supreme function of reason is to show man that some things are beyond reason. – Blaise Pascal

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Bonhoeffer’s last poem, “Who Am I?”

One of Bonhoeffer’s last poem,  “Who Am I?”  deserves another hearing:

 

Who am I? They often tell me

I would step from my cell’s confinement

Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,

Like a squire from his country-house.

 

Who am I? They often tell me

I would talk to my warders

freely and friendly and clearly,

as though it were mine to command.

 

Who am I? They also tell me

I would bear the days of misfortune

Equably, smilingly, proudly,

Like one accustomed to win.

 

Am I then really all that which men tell of?

Or am I only what I know of myself,

Restless and longing and sick like a bird in a cage,

Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,

 

Yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,

Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,

Trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,

Tossing in expectation of great events,

Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,

Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making

Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

 

Who am I? This or the other?

Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,

And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army,

Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

 

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

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Actions and reactions – (©Lisa TerKeurst)

Actions and reactions – (©Lisa TerKeurst)

Dear Lord,

it’s easy to honor You with my carefully thought through actions but sometimes much harder with my reactions.

Please help me to pause and allow the Holy Spirit to intervene when I want to react in a way that doesn’t glorify You. Yes, even when I’m caught off guard by something this week, may Your love and patience be the spillover from my heart.- Lysa TerKeurst

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