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"I heard that someone asked Edith Schaeffer (wife of Francis Schaeffer) who, in her opinion, was the godliest woman alive. Her reply was that she didn’t know, as that woman was quietly worshiping God as she dies of cancer in a third world country. Her point was that great godliness and purpose in God’s kingdom is lived out in daily, quiet faithfulness–in perseverance in the faith in the long, hard slog of life, not with the accolades for or resolutions to suffering for which we often long."

Wendy Alsup, "Believe In Something Bigger Than Your Years", from Parctical Theology for Women blog.

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For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14 Mercy is best understood when we have experienced it. We simply may not realize what the Lord has done for us, the high price He’s paid, until we’ve pardoned someone who wronged us. We are eager to be forgiven but hesitate to forgive, our human nature struggles with it. But with God’s help you can. Father, help me to forgive those that I need to forgive. It is not easy, but through You I can do anything. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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“My quadriplegia constantly clamors for my undivided attention: empty leg bag, deal with pain, arrange for help, adjust corset, charge wheelchair, look for access, and grab that handicap parking spot before someone else does. It’s my world. Then again, it is definitively not. My world, my breath and very being — my identity — is in Christ and Christ alone. I am not my own; I was bought with the price of God’s blood (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Satan hates that. He will do everything he can — use my wheelchair, my notoriety, ministry, whatever — to focus me away from Christ.”

— Joni Eareckson Tada, My Suffering Has Not Defined Me

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"Lord, high and holy,

meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me

to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths

but see Thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains

of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down

is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart

is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit

is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul

is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing

is to possess all,

that to bear the cross

is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley

is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime

stars can be seen

from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells

the brighter Thy stars shine;

Let me find Thy light

in my darkness,

Thy life in my death,

Thy joy in my sorrow,

Thy grace in my sin,

Thy riches in my poverty

Thy glory in my valley."

Arthur Bennett, "The Valley of Vision"

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"And on that day

When my strength is failing

The end draws near

And my time has come

Still my soul will

Sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years

And then forevermore"

Matt Redman & Jonas Myrin, "10,000 Reasons"

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Happy Reformation Day!

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"Oh, have mercy on me and tell me, O Lord my God, what You are to me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation." Say it loudly enough that I may hear.

Behold, Lord, my heart lies exposed before You. Open the ears of that heart and say unto my soul, "I am your salvation."

The Confessions of St. Augustine

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O God, early in the

morning I cry to you.

Help me to pray

And to concentrate

my thoughts on you;

I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness,

But with you there is light;

I am lonely,

but you do not leave me;

I am feeble in heart,

but with you there is help;

I am restless,

but with you there is peace.

In me there is bitterness,

but with you there is patience;

I do not understand your ways,

But you know the way for me.

O Heavenly Father,

I praise and thank you

For rest in the night;

I praise and thank you

for this new day;

I praise and thank you

for all your goodness

and faithfulness

throughout my life.

You have granted me

many blessings;

Now let me also accept

what is hard from your hand.

You will lay on me no

more than I can bear.

You make all things

work together for

good for your children.

Lord Jesus Christ,

You were poor and in distress,

a captive and forsaken as I am.

You know all man’s troubles;

You abide with me

when all men fail me;

You remember and seek me;

It is your will that I should

know you and turn to you.

Lord, I hear your call and follow;

Help me.

O Holy Spirit,

Give me faith that will

protect me from despair,

from passions, and from vice;

Give me such love for

God and men

as will blot out all

hatred and bitterness;

Give me the hope that

will deliver me from

fear and faint-heartedness.

Amen.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

Letters and Papers from Prison

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The sovereignty of God is our place of rest.

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"Holiness is not a merit by which we can attain communion with God, but a gift of Christ, which enables us to cling to Him, and to follow Him."

Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life by John Calvin