Safe in the Arms of God

The eternal God is your refuge,  

  and underneath are 

    the everlasting arms.

                               - Deuteronomy 33:27

So do not fear, for I am with you;

    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

For I am the LORD, your God,

    who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, Do not fear;

    I will help you.

                                      - Isaiah 41:10,13

When Jesus takes your hand, 

  He holds you tight. 

When Jesus holds you tight, 

  He leads you through your whole life. 

When Jesus leads you through 

  your whole life, 

    He brings you safely Home.

                                      - Corrie ten Boom

In the valley, no matter how 

  treacherous and painful and difficult, 

nobody can take your hand 

  out of the hand of the Good Shepherd.

*

Because in the valley, 

  we are not holding onto Him 

    for dear life. 

It’s the Good Shepherd who has 

  taken us by the hand! 

It doesn’t make any difference 

  if we let go.

Thank God, He will never let go.

*

The wisest thing you can do 

  is immerse yourself in the Bible.

 Scriptural truths establish you 

  so that, when you get into the valley, 

the Lord Jesus Christ, 

  who holds your  hand 

    every step of the way, 

  will keep reminding you of them.

                                      - Charles Stanley

Even though I walk through the valley 

    of the shadow of death  

Your perfect love is casting out fear  

And even when I'm caught in the middle 

    of the storms of this life  

I won't turn back  

I know You are near

… And I will fear no evil  

For my God is with me  

And if my God is with me  

Whom then shall I fear?  

Whom then shall I fear?

… Oh no, You never let go  

Through the calm and 

    through the storm  

Oh no, You never let go  

In every high and every low  

Oh no, You never let go  

Lord, You never let go of

… Yes, I can see a light that is coming 

    for the heart that holds on  

And there will be an end 

    to these troubles  

But until that day comes  

Still I will praise You, 

    still I will praise You

    

                                       - Matt Redman

The Sure Foundation Even To The End

He will be the sure foundation 

    for your times. 

                                       - Isaiah 33:6

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

    though the earth give way and 

the mountains fall into the heart
        of the sea,

    though its waters roar and foam

       and the mountains quake
            with their surging. 

Be still and know that I am God.

                                       - Psalm 46:1-3,10

This God is our God 

    forever and ever;

He will be our guide

    even to the end.

                                       - Psalm 48:14

But I trust in you, O Lord;

    I say, "You are my God."

My times are in your hands

                                       - Psalm 31:14-15

Even to your old age and gray hairs

    I am He, I am He

       who will sustain you.

                                       – Isaiah 46:4

When the earth and

    all its perple quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm 

                                       - Psalm 75:3

Now to him who is able 

  to do immeasurably more 

    than all we ask or imagine,   

  according to his power 

    that is at work within us, 

      to him be glory

                                       - Ephesians::20-21

He who began a good work in you 

  will carry it on to completion 

    until the day of Christ Jesus.

                                       - Philippians 1:6

Thus Far The Lord Has Helped Us

Ebenezer ~ 

    Stone of Help

Then Samuel took a stone 

  and set it up between Mizpah 

     and Shen. 

He named it Ebenezer, saying, 

“Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

                                            - 1 Samuel 7:12

“He who hath helped thee hitherto

    will help thee all thy journey 

        through.”

When read in Heaven’s light, 

  how glorious and 

      marvelous a prospect 

  will Thy “hitherto” unfold 

      to thy grateful eye.  

                                       - C. H. Spurgeon

O Thou of little faith,

God hath not failed thee yet!

When all looks dark and gloomy,

Thou dost so soon forget—

Forget that He has led thee,

And gently cleared thy way;

On clouds has poured His sunshine,

And turned thy night to day.

And if He’s helped thee hitherto,

He will not fail thee now;

How it must wound His loving heart

To see thy anxious brow!

Oh! doubt not any longer,

To Him commit thy way,

Whom in the past thou trusted,

And is “just the same today.”

                              - Streams in the Desert

The Will Must Bow

The quiet song of gratitude,

    eucharisteo, 

lures humility out of the shadows 

  because to receive a gift, 

    the knees must bend humble 

     and the hand must lie 

        vulnerably open 

  and the will must bow 

    to accept whatever the Giver

      chooses to give.

                                      - Ann Voskamp

Hallelujah

My soul magnifies the Lord

    Hallelujah!

My spirit resources in the Lord

    Hallelujah!

I Will Not Be Afraid

I will trust God and 

    not be afraid

I will not be afraid

I will look upward and 

    travel onward

        and not be afraid

                   - quoted by Elisabeth Elliot 

Even Through This?

Will you still Follow Me

    even through this?

Will you still Trust Me

    even through this?

Will you still Love Me

    even through this?
 

Will you still Praise Me

    even through this?

I’ll Praise You In This Storm

And I'll praise You in this storm  

And I will lift my hands  

For You are who You are  

No matter where I am  

And every tear I've cried  

You hold in Your hand  

You never left my side  

And though my heart is torn  

I will praise You in this storm

                   - Bernie Herms / Mark Hall

Trust In The Living God

The care that is filling your mind 

    at this moment, 

or but waiting till you lay the book aside 

    to leap upon you --

that need which is no need, 

    is a demon sucking at the spring

        of your life. 

"No; mine is a reasonable care -- 

    an unavoidable care, indeed."

Is it something you have to do 

    this very moment? 

"No."

Then you are allowing it to usurp 

    the place of something that is required 

        of you this moment. 

"There is nothing required of me 

    at this moment."

Nay but there is --

    the greatest thing that can be 

        required of a person. 

"Pray, what is it?"

Trust in the living God….

"I do trust Him in spiritual matters."

Everything is an affair of the spirit.

                           - George MacDonald

Let It Go!

Do not worry about tomorrow, 

    for tomorrow will worry about itself. 

Each day has enough trouble 

    of its own.

                                      - Matthew 6:24

Humble yourselves, therefore, 

    under God's mighty   hand, 

that He may lift you up 

    in due time. 

Cast all your anxiety on Him 

    because He cares for you. 

                                      - 1 Peter 5:6-9

Praise be to the Lord, 

   to God our Savior, 

      who daily bears our burdens.

                                      - Psalm 68:19

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

   in you I trust, O my God.

Show me your ways, O LORD,

    teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

                                      - Psalm 25:1-2,4-5

The Lord is close to the 

    brokenhearted 

and saves those who are 

    crushed in spirit.

                                      - Psalm 34:18

The Next Hour Is God’s

This hour is mine 

    with its present duty;

the next is God’s,

    and when it comes,

        His presence will come with it.

                                             - Unknown

The Act of Faith

The act of faith 

  is being willing to trust 

    in the wisdom and 

        the will of God 

    without knowing the 

         outcome.  

                              ~ Dr. Charles Stanley

In Acceptance Lieth Peace

A trial won’t do any good 

  to you spiritually 

    unless you accept it.

And it is in just these tiny acts

  of acceptance of situations 

    that we can’t change 

  that we are in the process of 

    growing spiritually.

We regress instead of grow spiritually

  when we reject what God sends. 

                                - Elisabeth Elliot

Worry, Wealth and Worldliness

The seed falling among the thorns 

  refers to someone who hears the word, 

but the worries of this life 

  and the deceitfulness of wealth 

    choke the word, making it unfruitful.

                                       - Matthew 13:22

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, 

  hear the word; but 

the worries of this life, 

  the deceitfulness of wealth 

    and the desires for other things 

come in and choke the word, 

  making it unfruitful. 

                                       - Mark 4:18-19

The seed that fell among thorns 

  stands for those who hear, 

but as they go on their way 

  they are choked by life's worries, 

    riches and pleasures, 

      and they do not mature.

                                       - Luke 8:14

In What Do You Have Your Being?

In Him we live and move

    and have our being.

                                       - Acts 17:28

He will be the sure foundation 

    for your times. 

                                       - Isaiah 33:6

Those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

                                       - Isaiah 40:31

But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, 

    for he has been good to me.

                                       - Psalm 13:5-6

Keep your lives free 

  from the love of money and 

      be content with what you have,

  because God has said,

      "Never will I leave you; 

           never will I forsake you."

                                       - Hebrews 13:5

No one can serve two masters. 

Either you will hate the one 

     and love the other, 

  or you will be devoted to the one 

     and despise the other. 

You cannot serve both God 

     and money."

                                       - Luke 16:13

The Burden of Tomorrow

Oh, ask not thou, How shall I bear

The burden of to-morrow?

Sufficient for to-day, its care,

Its evil and its sorrow;

God imparteth by the way

Strength sufficient for the day.

                                 - J. E. Saxby

No person ever sank 

  under the burden of the day. 

It is when tomorrow’s burden 

  is added to the burden of today

    that the weight is more 

       than a person can bear. 

Never load yourselves so, my friends. 

  if you find yourselves so loaded,

    at least remember this: 

      it is your own doing, not God’s. 

He begs you to leave 

    the future to Him,

       and mind the present. 

                                  - George MacDonald

Many things about tomorrow,

I don't seem to understand;

But I know Who holds tomorrow,

And I know Who holds my hand.

                             - Ira Forest Stanphill

To take on the burdens of tomorrow 

    is to sap the strength needed 

to carry out the work 

    assigned for today.

                                 - Elisabeth Elliot 

Today is mine.

Tomorrow is none of my business.

If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future,

  I will strain my spiritual eyes

    so I will not see clearly

      what is required of me now.

                                 – Elisabeth Elliot

We may bring any difficult situation

  to our Heavenly Father,

laying it before His eyes,

  and asking not for instant escape

but for strength to sustain 

  the burden and to do 

    what we ought to do.

                                - Elisabeth Elliot

It is not for the flock of sheep to know 

   the pasture the Shepherd 

       has in mind.  

It is for them to simply 

    follow Him.

                                  - Elisabeth Elliot 

This, Then Is Of Faith

This, then, is of faith, 

that everything, the very least, 

  or what seems to us great, 

every change of the seasons, 

everything which touches us in mind, 

  body, or estate, 

whether brought about through 

  this outward senseless nature, 

or by the will of man, 

  good or bad, 

is overruled to each of us 

by the all-holy and 

  all-loving will of God. 

Whatever befalls us, 

  however it befalls us, 

we must receive 

  as the will of God. 

If it befalls us through 

man’s negligence, or ill-will, 

  or anger, 

still it is, in every 

  the least circumstance, 

to us the will of God. 

For if the least thing 

  could happen to us 

without God’s permission, 

it would be something 

  out of God’s control. 

God’s providence or His love

  would not be what they are. 

Almighty God Himself 

  would not be the same God; 

not the God whom we believe, 

  adore, and love.

       ~ E. B. Pusey, from Daily Strength 

                  for Daily Needs

The Everlasting Arms

The eternal God is your refuge,
    and underneath are 

        the everlasting arms.

 

                                  - Deuteronomy 33:27

I tread no path in life 

    to Him unknown,

I lift no burden, 

    bear no pain, alone;

My soul a calm, sure 

    hiding place has found:

The everlasting arms 

    my life surround.

 

                                  - Robert Browning

As He Unfolds The Rose

I'll trust Him for His leading  

Each moment of every day  

And I'll look to Him for His guidance

Each step of the pilgrim way

For the pathway that lies before me  

My heavenly Father knows  

I'll trust Him to unfold the moments  

Just as He unfolds the rose

  

                              ~ Unknown

The Sheep Thinks It Knows

The sheep thinks it knows

    where it should be going;

The clay pot thinks it knows

    when it should be done;

The vine thinks it knows

    when pruning should be over;

But the Sovereign Lord does

    what's best for each one.

The sheep is not responsible 

          for running the ranch -

               the Shepherd is. 

The clay pot is not controlling 

          the  potter’s wheel -

               the Potter is.

The vine is not in charge 

           of the garden -

               the Gardener is.