"In Gethsemane

the holiest of all petitioners

prayed three times

that a certain cup

might pass from Him.

It did not."

-C.S. Lewis

"Before God can use

a man greatly,

He must first

wound him deeply."

-A.W. Tozer

Forsaking all others...

"Idols always break the hearts of their worshipers." - C.S. Lewis

"An idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. In biblical terms it is something other than God that we set our heart on (Luke 12:29), that motivates us (1 Corinthians 4:5), that masters and rules us (Psalm 119:133; Ephesians 5:5), or that we trust, fear, or serve (Isaiah 42:17; Matthew 6:24; Luke 12:4-5). In short, it is something we love and pursue in place of God (see Philippians 3:19)." - Ken Sande

"Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:

'Ye call Me Master, and obey Me not.

Ye call Me Light, and see Me not.

Ye call Me Way, and walk Me not.

Ye call Me Life, and desire Me not.

Ye call Me Wise, and follow Me not.

Ye call Me Fair, and love Me not.

Ye call Me Rich, and ask Me not.

Ye call Me Eternal, and seek Me not.

Ye call Me Gracious, and trust Me not.

Ye call Me Noble, and serve Me not.

Ye call Me Mighty, and honour Me not.

Ye call Me Just, and fear Me not.

If I condemn you, blame Me not.'"

- Inscription in the Lübeck Cathedral, Germany

The Gift or the Giver?

“If I would know the love of my friend, I must see what it can do in the winter. So with the divine love. It is very easy for me to worship in the summer sunshine, when the melodies of life are in the air and the fruits of life are on the tree. But let the song of the bird cease, and the fruit of the tree fall; and will my heart still go on to sing? Will I stand in God’s house by night? ...My heart has recognized His majesty through His mean disguise, and I know at last that I desire not the gift, but the Giver. When I can stand in His house by night, I have accepted Him for Himself alone.”

- George Matheson

It comes down to this:

"to those who fear Him there is no want." Psalm 34:9

"they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing." Psalm 34:10

"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11

So.


Either...
1) I am not fearing Him and walking uprightly, 2) I am not seeking Him, or 3) "this" is not a good thing for me (at least right now).


Because...
1) He is good, and 2) He doesn't lie.

The Liar's Taunt

"Then [the enemy's spokesman] stood and cried with a loud voice in [the language God's people could understand] and said, 'Hear the words of the great king, the [enemy of your king]. Thus says the king, "Do not let [your king] deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you;  nor let [him] make you trust in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of [the enemy].'"  Do not listen to [your king], for thus says [my] king, "Make your peace with me and come out to me...until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.  Beware that [your king] does not mislead you, saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of [your enemy]?"

The Response

[Upon receiving the news of the enemy's threats against him, and taunts against the faithfulness of his God:]  Then [the king of God's people] took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. [He] prayed to the Lord saying,

'O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of [the enemy's spokesmen], who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the [enemy has] devastated all the countries and their lands, and [has] cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.'"

Isaiah 36:13-21, 37:14-30

One of the hardest things to do

(harder than anything you could go through yourself)

...trusting God with someone you love

especially (although the best), when that is the only thing left for you to do for them.

___________

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

-C.S. Lewis

“Sobbing with tears,

sobbing without tears,

tears without sobbing,

smiles with tears.

Numb.

Welcome to the ministry of love.” 
-John Piper 

“I have held many things in my hands,
and I have lost them all;
but whatever I have placed in God's hands,
that I still possess.” 
-Martin Luther 

"Bear not a single care thyself,

One is too much for thee.

The work is mine, and mine alone,

And thine is...

Trust in Me.” 

-Unknown

"A battered reed He will not break off,

and a smoldering wick He will not put out" 
-Matthew 12:20

♫

in·car·nate, adj. a) Invested with flesh {What an investment.}

 "Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God

that man might stand before Him as He was created to do,

the friend and lover of God Himself."

~ Oswald Chambers

A Christmas Poem

"In this smelly place he lay,
Smelly like the swine,
Smelly like the rotting hay,
Like your sin, and mine.
Do you see how low he lay?
Do you see how low?
There is lower yet to go.
Lower yet to go.

He is lying where they eat,
Lying where the swine—
Lying like a piece of meat
Where the hungry dine.
Do you see the flow complete
Do you see the flow?
There is greater love to show
Greater love to show.

Such a happy toddler there,
Happy like the birds,
Happy like the morning air
Filled with happy words.
Does he see or know or care?
Does he see or know:
O, how deep will be his woe
Deep will be his woe?

Knowing God was born like this
Knowing this is he,
Knowing somehow this is bliss
For the swine and me,
Is this love's full glow and kiss?
Is this love’s full glow?
There are deeper things to know,
Deeper things to know.

Mary musing every year,
Musing on her son,
Musing with a rising fear
Who will be the one:
Who will strike the blow and spear?
Who will strike the blow?
Does she know that blood must flow?
Know that blood must flow?

Jesus hanging on the tree,
Hanging like the meat,
Hanging there for swine like me,
Gives his flesh to eat.
Here is Life brought low and free.
Here is Life brought low.
O, how vast the debt I owe
Vast the debt I owe."  

~  John Piper

DesiringGod